“Since the Supreme Court refused to narrow patents on software and business methods two years ago, there has been a patent market boom,” Dana Blankenhorn writes for TheStreet.
“Just last month, Microsoft spent $1 billion on AOL patents,” Blankenhorn writes. “his followed Google’s $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility, allegedly for its patents, and the $4.5 billion purchase of Nortel patents by a consortium of big tech outfits [led by Apple].”
Blankenhorn writes, “If the gold rush ends, however, credit Richard Posner. Posner, an esteemed conservative theorist is now a senior judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago, and is currently sitting in as a trial judge. But this is no ordinary patent trial. It’s Apple v. Motorola. The unit of Motorola being sued is the one Google is buying.”
“He takes no nonsense. Posner has ruled Apple’s claim constructions ‘superior,’ those of Motorola ‘ridiculous,'” Blankenhorn writes. “Only patents that are on point are going to be covered. Posner has identified one patent on ‘touchscreen heuristics’ (Steve Jobs is listed as one of the inventors) as the centerpiece of the case.”
Read more in the full article here.