In the war of litigation between Apple and Motorola, one Federal judge has had enough. Judge Richard A. Posner, who will preside over a patent lawsuit between Apple and Motorola in June, made the following comments when denying an Apple motion, according to FOSS Patents:
I deny the second half of Apple’s motion (seeking prohibition of the deposition) as frivolous and the first half (seeking substitution) as untimely. I"ve had my fill of frivolous filings by Apple. The next such motion, and I shall forbid it to file any motions without first moving for leave to file.
The comments were made in an order dated April 26, but didn"t appear in public record until yesterday, April 30. Although Apple"s motion itself has not yet been released, FOSS Patents states it was an attempt to deny Motorola from deposing an expert. Posner had previously denied a similar motion by Apple only three days earlier. Apple then filed this motion, which attempted to again prevent Motorola from deposing the expert on the grounds that the health problems of the expert"s wife prevented him from being able to testify at the trial.
Posner"s words come mere months after another judge, Chief Judge Gregory M. Sleet of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, chastised Apple for making a "disingenuous" argument in another lawsuit against Motorola. Sleet stated on Jan. 5 that Apple"s argument appeared to be disingenuous to the court and that it "appear[ed] less than forthright."
Judge Posner is the "most-cited U.S. legal scholar of the 20th century," according to FOSS Patents, and will be sitting "by designation" on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, which is handling the Apple v. Motorola case, despite being a circuit judge.