Apple and Google have now spent years locked in legal battles over an increasingly complex array of patent ownership and violation claims.
So intense, convoluted, and petty have some of the claims become, says a federal judge in Florida today, that it now appears that Google and Apple are simply using the courts to formulate and execute business strategies.
U.S. District Judge Robert Scola said Thursday that Google and Apple are essentially playing games in the courtroom.
“The parties have no interest in efficiently and expeditiously resolving this dispute,” Scola says, according to coverage from Bloomberg. “they instead are using this and similar litigation worldwide as a business strategy that appears to have no end. This is not a proper use of this court.”
The case in Florida involves more than 180 claims related to 12 patents and disputes over the meaning of more than 100 terms, Scola said in his order.
Because Apple and Google were unable to “streamline the case,” Judge Scola called the companies’ actions “obstreperous and cantankerous conduct.”
“Without a hint of irony, the parties now ask the court to mop up a mess they made by holding a hearing to reduce the size and complexity of the case,” Scola said. “The court declines this invitation.”
