A lawsuit between patent licensing firm Intellectual Ventures and Motorola Mobility over aspects of Google's Android OS and several mobile phone features has ended in a mistrial.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware declared a mistrial on Wednesday after the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict, said Intellectual Ventures in a news release. The lawsuit involved patents that were part of Intellectual Ventures' first infringement complaint against Motorola.
The patent licensing firm sued Motorola in 2011 after the companies were unable to agree on a license agreement.
In the trial, the jury dealt with the alleged infringement of three patents, according to the final jury instructions filed with the court on Tuesday. The patents in the suit concerned mobile phones and features of Google's Android, specifically Google Play, Intellectual Ventures said.
Motorola contended that the patent claims asserted by Intellectual Ventures are invalid because they lack novelty and are obvious, in terms of previous patented technology, according to the court document. It also disputed the validity of the patents.
Because the jury couldn't reach a verdict, both parties will have to wait for a retrial to resolve the claims on the three patents.
Intellectual Ventures called the mistrial "disappointing," but said it was looking ahead to the retrial as well as the other two upcoming trials with Motorola Mobility later this year.
Two additional patents involved in Intellectual Ventures' first complaint against Motorola are scheduled to go to trial in Delaware on or after April 7, the company said.
A second patent infringement complaint filed against Motorola in 2013 is scheduled to go on trial in November in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, according to Intellectual Ventures.
Motorola did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Loek is Amsterdam Correspondent and covers online privacy, intellectual property, open-source and online payment issues for the IDG News Service. Follow him on Twitter at @loekessers or email tips and comments to loek_essers@idg.com
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