Intellectual Ventures’ patent infringement lawsuit against Google-owned Motorola...

Intellectual Ventures’ patent infringement lawsuit against Google-owned Motorola Mobility temporarily halted Wednesday when U.S. District Judge Sue Robinson in Wilmington, Del., declared a mistrial. Intellectual Ventures, which some critics have called a patent troll, had claimed that Motorola Mobility hardware and the Google Play app used on Android mobile devices violated three Intellectual Ventures patents. Robinson declared the mistrial and ordered a retrial of the case after the jury found it could not reach a verdict just a day after it began deliberations on evidence presented during the two-week trial. Intellectual Ventures had originally filed the lawsuit in 2011, when Motorola Mobility was still part of Motorola, but Google became involved in the case when it bought Motorola Mobility in 2012. Lenovo recently announced it would buy Motorola Mobility as part of a $2.91 billion deal, but Google will continue to own most of Motorola’s patents. Melissa Finocchio, Intellectual Ventures chief litigation counsel, said in a statement that “Mistrials are an occasional fact of life, and it is disappointing (for us, and probably also for Motorola) that the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict. But we are looking ahead to the retrial on these patents and also to our two other upcoming trials with Motorola Mobility Inc. later this year.” Intellectual Ventures and Motorola Mobility are set to return to U.S. District Court in Wilmington for a second patent case April 7. The two companies will face each other in another case Nov. 17 in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Motorola Mobility said in a statement “we continue to believe this lawsuit was based on overbroad patent claims meant to tax innovation.”