Google And Motorola Ordered To Turn Over Android Data To Apple

An ongoing patent war.

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Google and its newly acquired mobile phone manufacturer Motorola are being forced to hand over classified information about the development of the Android platform to their bitter rival, Apple.

The decree was handed down by Chicago U.S. Circuit Court Judge Richard A. Posner, who is presiding over a patent war between Motorola and Apple. Currently, Posner is reviewing Apple's claim that Motrola has infringed upon six of its patents. Later, in a separate case, he will decide whether Apple infringed on three of Motorola's own patents.

The info about how Android was developed could prove important, because Apple has long maintained that the platform was created by ripping off iOS.

Steve Jobs was famously amped up about getting justice against Android in his last years. In his biography, he called Android "a stolen product" and said that he would be willing to "spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank to right this wrong."

In other words, this suit could just be the beginning.

[Bloomberg via CNET]

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