Richard Posner on software patents

Richard Posner is an influential US judge. He became prominent in the patent debate in 2012 when he dismissed a law suit between Apple and Google.

Apple v. Google in 2012

Posner is an appeals court judge but decided to come down to a district court to hear a patent suit which Apple filed against Google's Motorola Mobility division, along with Google's countersuit. The trial was due to start on Monday, 11 June, but Posner released a statement on the Friday beforehand saying that although there may be infringement, no damage had been proven and he had decided to dismiss the case "with prejudice" (thus no further case possible for the same infringement).

Related pages on ESP Wiki

• USA patent courts and appeals

External links

• The solution to Posner’s patent problem, 19 July 2012, ESP news
• Judge Posner: U.S. patent system out of sync, 5 July 2012, Chicago Tribune
• Judge Posner Rips Apart Apple's Patent Litigation Strategy: Being 'Really Annoyed' Is No Reason To Sue, 25 June 2012, Techdirt
• Famous judge spikes Apple-Google case, calls patent system “dysfunctional”, 8 June 2012, Gigaom
• Judge who shelved Apple trial says patent system out of sync, 5 June 2012, Reuters

Articles by Posner

• Do patent and copyright law restrict competition and creativity excessively?, 30 Sep 2012
• Why There Are Too Many Patents in America, 12 July 2012