[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit [official website] on Friday renewd claims [opinion] by Apple against Google subsidiary Google’s Motorola Mobility [corporate websites] for infringing smartphone patents. Judge Richard Posner, sitting in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois [official website], dismissed [JURIST report] both company’s patent claims against each other in 2012 before trial, ruling that a sales ban would harm consumers. The Federal Circuit has called for the district court to reconsider Apple’s request for injunctive relief and will allow Motorola to seek damages, but not an injunction, on their own patent claim. Google has since announced that they will be selling Motorola’s handset business to Lenovo [corporate website]. It is unclear what effect this will have on the ongoing litigation.

JURIST guest columnists Rodney R. Sweetland, III and Michael G. McManus have detailed [JURIST op-ed] the history of the protracted legal battle between Apple and Google, including other disputes not addressed by the Federal Circuit’s ruling. In January the Federal Circuit ruled [JURIST report] that Apple had not infringed any of Google’s patents in the creation of the iPhone. In August the International Trade Commission (ITC) [official website] revived [JURIST report] Apple’s patent claims against Google. Last May the European Commission [official website] stated it would investigate Motorola for abusing its market position in Germany by pursuing injunction against Apple.