Judge dismisses Apple v. Motorola patent case, but may change his mind

A potentially epic patent case between Apple and the Google-owned Motorola Mobility has been nixed by U.S. judge Richard A. Posner, who rejected both companies’ damages claims.

The dismissal isn’t entirely surprising, as Posner previously scolded Apple’s lawyers over frivolous filings, and called a proposal by Motorola “ridiculous.” The trial was scheduled to begin on Monday.

“I have tentatively decided that the case should be dismissed with prejudice because neither party can establish a right to relief,” Posner wrote in his order from yesterday. He said that his final judgement would be delayed until he wrote a longer decision sometime next week, and added, “I may change my mind.”

Apple initially accused Motorola of infringing on four of its patents with Droid Android smartphones and the Xoom tablet. Motorola shot back saying that Apple infringed on its cellular technology. The two companies have been in a legal back-and-forth in courts all over the world since 2010, so don’t be surprised if you’ve lost track of them all.

Via Bloomberg; Photo via Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat