Scope of Upcoming Apple, Google Patent Trial Now Slightly Less Ridiculous
Apple and Google’s Motorola Mobility division have pared down the patents in their upcoming infringement trial to a more manageable level.
In a stipulation filed Monday, the two companies agreed to drop a combined 14 patents from the case, which will head to court in August of 2014. Of those 14, Motorola dropped eight, and Apple six; Cupertino had already pulled two patents prior to the joint order filing. Now eight patents remain, split evenly between the two companies.
That should make the case more manageable for presiding Judge Robert Scola, who earlier this year reprimanded Apple and Google, accusing them of using litigation as a business strategy. He gave the pair four months to narrow the scope of their claims against one another, under threat of a hold.
“The parties have no interest in efficiently and expeditiously resolving this dispute,” Scola wrote in an April order. “They instead are using this and similar litigation worldwide as a business strategy that appears to have no end. This is not a proper use of this court.”