Judge says Apple request for Google, Motorola documents too 'vague'
Earlier this month, Judge Richard A. Posner granted Apple's request to obtain information from Google and Motorola. The Cupertino, Calif., company had argued that "the Android/Motorola acquisition discovery is highly relevant to Appleâs claims and defenses" in its litigation against Motorola.
Bloomberg Businessweek reports that Judge Posner denied Apple's production request on Monday because it wasn't specific enough.
âThe motion is vague and overbroad and Motorolaâs objections are persuasive,â he wrote.
In a filing last Friday, Apple told the court that Motorola had not yet complied with the original request. According to the report, Motorola had emailed Apple "objecting to the scope" of the information requests.
âIf Apple desires a further court order compelling production of data within the scope of the March 5 order, it will have to narrow its request to a manageable and particularized set of documents,â Posner said.
Posner has scheduled two trials between Apple and Motorola for this June. The first will address six patent infringement claims brought by Apple and the second will examine three patents from Motorola.
The legal disagreement between the two companies has expanded across multiple cases in several different countries. Late last week, a German court upheld a Motorola-sought injunction on Apple's push services that affects the company's iCloud product in the country. Back in the U.S., the U.S. International Trade Commission issued a final ruling last Friday that Motorola had not infringed on three of Apple's patents.
Google is in the process of clearing the last obstacles to its $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola. Last month, European Union and U.S. regulators approved the deal. According to regulatory filing by Motorola, the company expects the merger to go through in the first half of this year, though it is awaiting approval from China.
Assuming the deal is approved, Motorola will bring 17,000 patents and 7,500 filed patents with it to Google. The search giant has said that it was compelled to acquire Motorola and strengthen its patent portfolio because of "anticompetitive threats" from Microsoft and Apple.
11 Comments
Soooooo, why is the review article thread closed?
Wait, didn't Motorola demand every single Apple patent earlier? And didn't Samsung demand something similar? That's prior ruling, isn't it? Apple's request is nowhere near that comprehensive.
Okay, how about 'everything involving the Google merger pertaining to the patents from this case' and 'everything prior to the Google merger involving the patents from this case'?
I'm completely switched to Apple products......I'm done with any crap Google and Motorola have to offer.
"Assuming the deal is approved, Motorola will bring 17,000 patents and 7,500 filed patents with it to Google. The search giant has said that it was compelled to acquire Motorola and strengthen its patent portfolio because of "anticompetitive threats" from Microsoft and Apple."
That's 24,500 patents. What does that work out per patent?
It seems to me that the Apple-led group bought the Nortel patents for a whole lot less.
I'm completely switched to Apple products......I'm done with any crap Google and Motorola have to offer.
I'm especially wary about letting Google have any access to any more of my information than possible. It's bad enough they collect it, but their new privacy policy allows them the right to share any info they have in any way they want.