While Apple vs Samsung is probably the biggest headline grabber as far as patent legal battles are concerned, the battle between Apple vs Motorola has taken an interesting turn of events. A little over a week ago, Apple requested that the lawsuit by Motorola against them be stayed until the Google and Motorola acquisition deal had gone through, but now (and unsurprisingly) Motorola is against that idea.
A little background for those unfamiliar with the situation – not too long ago Google had acquired Motorola’s mobile division, Motorola Mobility. Through that acquisition Google had acquired many of Motorola’s patents, and it’s due to that acquisition that Apple is claiming that Motorola does not have the right to continue with the lawsuit given that how those patents belong to Google now, and that Motorola had relinquished the rights to said patents.
Motorola has responded by requesting that the courts proceed with the lawsuit, and one of the reasons they gave in the 15 page letter is pictured above. Motorola admits that their rights have been ceded to Google due to the acquisition, and should Motorola wish to pursue any litigation and settlement, consent must be given by Google first. They also state that they wish to “cure a defect” in this standing, by which it has been suggested that perhaps Motorola may want to add an additional agreement with Google to allow them to proceed with the current lawsuit.
Considering how iOS and Android are competitors, we don’t see why Google would not give their consent and blessing for Motorola to proceed with this lawsuit. However this still remains up in the air and there has yet to be word from the courts or Google on this matter.
Filed in . Read more about Google, Lawsuit, Legal, Motorola, Patent Infringement and Patents.