Google and Motorola Mobility Holdings have been ordered to hand a hefty chunk of data over to Apple in a recent court judgement, including data pertaining to Android as well as information regarding Google’s $12.5 billion pending purchase of Motorola Mobility.
Judge Richard A. Posner ruled that Google and Motorola Mobility had to turn over information regarding the development of the Android operating system to Apple as part of the ongoing patent infringement case being fought between Motorola and Apple. Back-to-back trials are set to start on 11 June this year. The first trial will attempt to determine whether Motorola violates six Apple patents and, directly afterwards, the second will examing whether Apple infringed on three Motorola patents.
Motorola Mobility lawyers attempted to argue that Google was not a party to the ongoing lawsuits, saying in a court filing, “Google’s employees and documents are not within the ‘possession, custody, or control’ of Motorola, and Motorola cannot force Google to produce documents or witnesses over Google’s objections.”