Federal judge throws out Apple’s case against Motorola over FRAND patents
Good news for the Google-owned Motorola coming this afternoon from Madison, Wisconsin. Right before trial was set to begin today, Federal Judge Barbara Crabb has thrown out Apple’s case against Motorola. The case dealt with Moto’s patents (covering UMTS, GPRS, GSM, and 802.11 wireless standards) and the “unfair” royalty rates they were asking from Apple to use them (appox 2.25% of device sales).
The judge gave both parties until today to explain whether a court determined FRAND rate would even solve the patent dispute at hand and when Apple said it would only help resolve this case by figuring out if Motorola’s royalty rates were fair, this didn’t sit well with the judge who said ended up dismissing the case “with prejudice.” In repsonse to the ruling, Judge Crabb later said:
“Apple’s response was not satisfactory and did not assuage my concerns about determining a FRAND rate that may be used solely as a negotiating tool between the parties.”
Of course, Motorola seemed more than pleased with judge’s decision, saying:
“Motorola has long offered licensing to our extensive patent portfolio at a reasonable and non-discriminatory rate in line with industry standards. We remain interested in reaching an agreement with Apple.”
Apple originally told the court they didn’t want to pay a penny more than $1 per iPhone to license Moto’s FRAND patents and have yet to issue a statement on the ruling. Guess there’s always the possibility of an appeal or far (FAR) less likely settlement. This isn’t even close to over, folks.
[via Reuters | FOSSPatents]