Friday, February 10, 2012
Motorola Suit Dismissed Against Apple
By IAN SHERR, HARRIET TORRY And FRIEDRICH GEIGER
A German court Friday dismissed a patent-infringement suit brought by Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. against Apple Inc., following a bitter battle that at one point temporarily disrupted Apple's sales.
The German court dismissed Motorola's suit against Apple, a court representative said, clearing the iPhone maker of charges that it infringed a Motorola patent on mobile-communications technology.
Apple declined to comment on the decision. Motorola would say only that it plans to continue to "protect our intellectual property."
The ruling is the latest in a string of patent battles between the technology titans that has heightened concerns in high-tech circles about how companies litigate intellectual property. Lawyers and industry insiders alike noted that Motorola enforced an injunction against Apple in Germany over a patent that is considered essential to making wireless devices. As a result, Apple temporarily suspended sales of some iPhones and iPads on its German website until the injunction was lifted.
Patents that are made part of industry standards, such as some of those held by Motorola, Samsung Electronics Co. and others, are expected to be licensed under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, a commitment also known as Frand.
Apple, of Cupertino, Calif., has been outspoken about that issue lately, sending a letter to a European standards body asking for an overhaul of Frand agreements and a framework for how those patents are licensed. Among its recommendations, Apple said there should be an agreed-to base royalty as well as promises that companies won't seek or enforce injunctions against any competitor alleged to have infringed a Frand patent.
Cisco Systems Inc. has spoken out in support of Apple's recommendations, and Microsoft Corp. has made similar comments.
Google Inc., which struck a deal last year to acquire Motorola for $12.5 billion, sent a letter to dozens of European standards bodies saying it will maintain many of Motorola's practices and prices for Frand patents. But Google stopped short of promising it wouldn't use injunctions as part of its strategy. Though the U.S. Justice Department is expected to approve Google's takeover of Motorola, regulators in both Europe and the U.S. have expressed concern about Google's strategy.
The ruling in Germany represents a setback for Motorola, which Google said it is acquiring in part for its massive portfolio of thousands of patents.
An Apple spokesman declined to comment on the decision. Motorola didn't immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
The ruling follows two recent patent infringement wins for Motorola and a brief sales injunction against Apple in the same court, the latest development in a line of lawsuits being fought between major technology companies over mobile device patents in the U.S. and Europe.
Several companies are at loggerheads over the licensing of patents used in the lucrative smartphone market.
Google Inc. is currently seeking a $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility, which would give Google a powerful armory of technology patents.
US Stocks: Stocks on Track for Worst Session This Year - US Business News - CNBC
Stocks slumped Friday, on track to post their worst session this year, after stalled debt negotiations in Greece, some disappointing economic news and reports that S&P downgraded a handful of Italian banks.
Iran sanctions already hitting oil trade flows: IEA | Reuters
(Reuters) - Sanctions on Iran are already hitting global oil flows even though a European ban on imports from the Islamic Republic does not come into effect until July, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says.
Thousands protest in Athens over cuts - FT.com
Thousands of striking Greek workers have marched to parliament to demonstrate against wage cuts included in a new €3.3bn austerity package that eurozone finance ministers rejected as incomplete on Thursday.
Despite the protests, during which some people clashed with riot police, the cabinet is due to endorse the measures later in the day.
Skin cancer drug reverses Alzheimer's in mice - CNN.com
(CNN) -- Scientists say they "serendipitously" discovered that a drug used to treat a type of cancer quickly reversed Alzheimer's disease in mice.
"It's really exciting," said Maria Carrillo, senior director for medical and scientific relations for the Alzheimer's Association. "They saw very positive and robust behavior effects in the mice."
In the study, researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine gave mice mega-doses of bexarotene, a drug used to treat a type of skin cancer called cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Within 72 hours, the mice showed dramatic improvements in memory and more than 50% of amyloid plaque -- a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease -- had been removed from the brain.
The study was published Thursday in the journal Science.
Gary Landreth, the lead researcher at Case Western, cautioned that even though his results were impressive in mice, it may turn out not to work in people.
"I want to say as loudly and clearly as possible that this was a study in mice, not in humans," he said. "We've fixed Alzheimer's in mice lots of times, so we need to move forward expeditiously but cautiously."
