Apple Patent Ruling May Alter Tech Tactics
Judge Richard Posner’s ruling is a blow to the campaign by Apple and its rivals to use patent suits to block competitors' progress.
Judge Posner ruled that companies in such cases shouldn't be able to win court injunctions blocking sales of infringing products, a key tactic for plaintiffs trying to pressure defendants. But legal experts remain divided on whether the judge's 38-page ruling will have much impact on other disputes involving smartphone combatants. Judge Posner's ruling questioned whether the harm by patent infringement caused to a plaintiff in such a case justified the harm caused to the defendant—and the general public—from issuing an injunction that would prevent consumers from buying infringing products. "An injunction that imposes greater costs on the defendant than it confers benefits on the plaintiff reduces net social welfare," he wrote. The judge dismissed as "wild conjecture" the idea that a smaller player like Motorola could cause enough harm to Apple to justify an injunction, saying that Apple's lawyers had tried to turn the case into a "popularity contest" by comparing its products with Motorola's. Judge Posner stressed that monetary damages are a more appropriate remedy in such patent cases. But he criticized both companies' efforts to seek them, concluding they "had failed to make a responsible calculation" of damages.
Apple Patent Ruling May Alter Tech Tactics