U.S. judge tosses Apple vs. Google lawsuit over patents

(Reuters) - An Apple lawsuit against Google's Motorola Mobility unit over alleged patent abuse was thrown out on Monday just hours before trial, a setback for the iPhone maker in its efforts to gain leverage in the smartphone patent wars.

The two rivals were set to square off in a Madison, Wisconsin federal court over the library of patents Google Inc acquired along with Motorola for $12.5 billion in May. Apple Inc claimed Motorola's licensing practices were unfair.

However, late last week District Judge Barbara Crabb questioned whether she had the legal authority to hear Apple's claims, and on Monday she dismissed the case.

A Google spokeswoman said the company was pleased with the order, while an Apple representative declined to comment. In a legal brief filed after Crabb's ruling, Apple contended that the judge does indeed have the authority to hear its claims.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/06/net-us-google-patent-idUSBRE8A419M20121106

Apple v Google: US judge dismisses patent lawsuit.

A US judge has dismissed Apple's case in which it alleged that Google's Motorola unit was seeking excessive royalty payments for patents.

Motorola has sought 2.25% of the price of Apple products that use some of its patents, which Apple said was too high.

Last week, Motorola asked the court to set a price but Apple said it would not pay more than $1 (£0.60) per device.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20216101