While Apple is busy fighting a number of patent battles across the globe, Apple's head patent attorney has reportedly decided to leave the company
Apple is currently embroiled in a number of high profile legal cases against a number of tech heavyweights, including but not limited to Motorola, Samsung, and HTC.
All of the aforementioned litigation by and large relates to Android and Apple’s attempts to stifle Google’s growing influence in the mobile space. To that end, Apple is going after HTC for infringing on Apple patents and is going after Samsung for patent infringement and for “slavishly” copying the look and feel of its iOS products.
The ramifications of these cases is potentially huge and Apple has the bank account to really push hard here in an attempt to slow down the growth of Android.
That said, it sure is an interesting time for Apple’s chief patent attorney to get up and leave, but according to a recent report from Reuters, that’s exactly what’s happening.
The report relays that chief patent counsel Richard “Chip” Lutton Jr. has decided to leave Apple despite the fact that company is fighting “numerous legal battles around the world.” Taking over for Lutton will be BJ Watrous who had previously served as General Counsel for Hewlett-Packard and spearheaded various licensing initiatives and litigation matters.
While it’s entirely plausible that Lutton’s departure is an indication that Apple isn’t entirely thrilled with the current status of their pending Android related litigation, it’s hard to decisively draw any conclusions when we ultimately don’t know why Lutton chose to leave. While it’s hard to imagine Lutton leaving for a more important and engaging position, perhaps personal reasons played a part in his impending departure. At the end of the day, the departure may be a symptom of a larger problem but it remains pure speculation at this point.
In related news, Apple earlier this week filed another complaint with the ITC seeking to block the sale of a number of HTC devices it claims infringe on Apple patents. A few days earlier, Apple finally filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against Samsung that seeks to prevent that Korean based manufacturer from releasing a slew of Android based handsets and tablets.
Interesting times, and an even more interesting time for Apple’s chief patent lawyer to leave.
