Is there a chance of peace in the ongoing patent wars that have torn this country, nay, the entire world apart? Are we to enter a new enlightenment where common sense will prevail over acrimony? Probably not. But a federal judge has ruled against Apple in a patent dispute against Motorola Mobility (now a division of Google).
From the Wall Street Journal:
The ruling Friday by Richard Posner, an appellate-court judge designated to hear the case in Chicago, 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.
Now we have to wait and see if this ruling brings patent peace around the world.
The Journal can’t decide:
Judges frustrated with the patent wars—instead of relying on Congress to change laws—could follow Judge Posner’s lead and begin dismissing cases on the ground that companies can’t prove they deserve hefty damages.
“It’s part of a larger trend,” said Christal Sheppard, a former chief patent and trademark counsel for Congress and now an assistant professor of law at the University of Nebraska. “He said you could have a valid patent that’s completely copied, and you cannot get damages and you cannot get an injunction.”
But some legal experts said the ruling’s impact may be weakened because it cited few other cases to bolster its conclusions.
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