Apple suffers rare loss in Court against clonemaker Psystar
Late last week, a court granted Psystar’s motion to amend its counterclaims to include allegations that Apple has been misusing its copyright by refusing to allow competitors from selling OS X on non-Apple hardware.
The Legal Background
The ongoing litigation between Psystar and Apple began last July when Apple learned that Psystar, a Florida based company, was selling computers running Apple’s Leopard operating system. Apple subsequently initiated legal action against Psystar, alleging that Psytar’s actions were in direct violation of Apple’s EULA. Psystar not only refused to back down, but went on the offensive and responded with a counterclaim that Apple had a monopoly in the OS X market and was in violation of anti-trust laws. Psytar’s anti-trust arguments didn’t carry much legal weight, and the court eventually ruled in favor of Apple’s motion to dismiss that particular claim.
Pystar went back to the drawing board, and shortly thereafter, they filed a motion seeking permission to amend their counterclaims to include allegations that Apple’s tying of OS X to Apple hardware was a misuse of copyright.
The legal seesaw between Apple and Psystar continued with Apple then filing a motion to dismiss Psystar’s motion to amend its counterclaims. Confused? Welcome to the wonderful world of litigation!
The Most Recent Ruling
Psystar and Apple have been challenging and re-challenging each others motions and legal positions for months now, but it appears that this legal merry-go-round is coming to an end.
Without getting into the technical legal aspects of each sides respective arguments, a Judge ruled late last week that Psystar would be granted permission to amend its complaint to include allegations of copyright misuse. The court noted that even though Apple’s point of view may be proven to be correct at trial, there was not enough evidence to preclude Psystar from raising the issue in the first place.
Apple contends that copyright misuse may only be asserted as a defense, not as a counterclaim. This order is unconvinced, however, that misuse may never be asserted as a counterclaim for delaratory relief…
The Stakes
The litigation between Apple and Psystar is scheduled to go to trial in November, and its an understatement to say that Apple has a lot riding on the eventual outcome. If Psystar is somehow able to emerge victorious, it would open up the door for any and every hardware manufacturer to sell computers pre-loaded with Apple’s OS X operating system. Even though Psystar’s chances are slim, the potential repercussions of a Psystar victory would be detrimental beyond words for Apple. In an interesting twist to the case, in one of its pleadings, Apple noted that it believes that Psystar is being backed by a number of individuals, or corporations, who don’t necessarily work as Psystar employees, but who are nonetheless supporting Psystar monetarily in order to help it challenge Apple.
Finally, the Judge in the case ruled that he wouldn’t hear any more motions on pleadings, and that both parties should start gearing up for a November trial. One thing is for certain – the tech community will be watching closely.
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