Judge probes Apple in lawsuit vs. Google

Federal Judge Richard Posner in Chicago strongly questioned Apple's request for an injunction against Google's Motorola Mobility unit at a crucial hearing in the smartphone patent wars between the two technology companies. Judge Posner said an injunction barring the sale of Motorola phones would have "catastrophic effects" on Motorola. Judge Posner also questioned the worth of many software patents, noting deep systemic problems with the US patent system. "You can't just assume that because someone has a patent, he has some deep moral right to exclude everyone else" from using the technology, Judge Posner said.