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Fed. Cir. Revives Apple v. Motorola, May Affect Samsung Litigation

By Gabriella Khorasanee, JD on April 29, 2014 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

If all of the litigation surrounding smartphone and touch-screen patents between Apple, Samsung and Motorola (ahem, Google) are all starting to blend together into one giant blob in your mind, you are not alone.

Last Friday, the Federal Circuit issued an opinion in the Apple v. Motorola case, which is now affecting a current trial between Apple and Samsung in federal court in California.

Federal Circuit Opinion

On appeal, the Federal Circuit revived Apple's patent claims, and one of Motorola's patent claims. However, the court noted that Motorola may "not seek a sales ban for infringement," according to Reuters. Judge Prost, wrote a separate opinion, concurring-in-part and dissenting-in-part; she did not agree with the claim construction of the '949 patent, and would not have vacated the district court's summary judgment of Apple's request for an injunction.

Effect on Apple v. Samsung

Apple has asserted that Samsung also violated the '647 "quick links" patent (one of the patents in the Motorola case above) in an ongoing trial that began on March 31. Closing arguments were originally scheduled for today, but Friday's decision has necessitated additional testimony, so closing arguments should be presented tomorrow.

Judge Koh, the district court judge presiding over the Apple v. Samsung trial stated, "Neither side has been shy about asking for other claim constructions ... Now to come in and potentially blow up what we've already done with this jury for a month is frustrating to me." She added, "just because a district court judge has construed a claim in one way doesn't mean I have to adopt that," reports CNET.

Regardless of how that case is decided, it won't be long before the Federal Circuit will probably be hearing the appeal.

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