Apple wants to press pause on patent suits, calls Motorola a lame duck
In what could turn out to be a very expensive lesson in minding one's mouth, Apple plans to use Google's and Motorola's own words against them in court. Over the weekend, Cupertino's lawyers filed two motions to stay in patent-related litigation with Moto, claiming the OEM's pending merger renders its patent suits indefensible. According to Apple's legal team, the proposed Motorola Mobility acquisition effectively transfers patent control over to Google, an allegation that public-facing statements from both companies seem to corroborate. Citing the potential waste of resources and probable reversal of future pre-merger settlements, the house that Jobs built is hoping to hold off on the court room fisticuffs until after the GoogMo consolidation is settled. With both cases set for far-off trial dates in April and August of 2012, it looks like all parties involved have plenty of time to sort this mess out, and then battle it out once again.
