Battle over patents continues even as
Android grows tenfold since first lawsuit filed
Apple will try to salvage a high-profile lawsuit against
Google's
Motorola Mobility unit on Wednesday at a crucial hearing in the smartphone patent wars between the two technology companies.
Sitting in
Chicago, federal judge
Richard Posner will hear Apple argue that it should be able to seek an order barring the sale of some Motorola phones. Posner's decision could affect the
iPhone maker's ability to negotiate favourable licensing agreements in its legal fights against Motorola and other competitors including
Samsung and
HTC.
Apple has waged an international patent war since spring 2010, part of its attempt to either limit the growth of Google's Android or to restrict the number of iPhone-like features that it offers. So far it has had little effect; Android has gone in that time from around 100,000 phones being activated every day to more than 900,000 a day, and from less than 8m devices in use worldwide to more than 390m. Opponents of Apple, meanwhile, say it is using patents too aggressively in its bid to stamp out competition...
