Judge tells Apple, 'I've had my fill of frivolous filings'

A top US judge has given Apple's lawyers a stern talking to, saying that he's fed up with the Cupertino company's 'frivolous filings' in a case where Apple is fighting Motorola.

Richard A. Posner, a respected legal scholar and author of over 40 books, is presiding over a patent lawsuit that sees Apple going toe-to-toe with the Razr-making Android manufacturer, Foss Patents reports.

In an order that entered the public record yesterday, Posner denies Apple's motion -- understood to be an attempt to prevent Motorola from deposing an expert -- writing, "I've had my fill of frivolous filings by Apple."

As the legal blog points out, Posner isn't the first legal professional to criticise Apple, with another judge taking issue with the company for making a 'disingenuous' argument.

These slaps on the wrist for Apple's lawyers might not do much to slow the barrage of legal proceedings that the company is aiming at the likes of Motorola, HTC and Samsung, but CEO Tim Cook did say recently that he'd "prefer to settle" the war raging between the iPad-maker and Android manufacturers.

Cook followed that up with a cheeky, "we need people to invent their own stuff", but there may be light at the end of the tunnel, as Apple and Samsung have agreed to a sit-down chit-chat. Fingers crossed that leads to hatchets buried on both sides.

Late Apple boss Steve Jobs declared "thermonuclear war" on Google's rival Android software, saying, "I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product."

Apple's legal barrage has perhaps been most successful at hindering Samsung, which the company claims 'slavishly' copies its own devices. As well as getting Samsung gear banned from sale in a number of countries, Samsung was forced to redesign its Galaxy Tab 10.1 device to be less similar to Apple's own gadgets.

Patent acquisition to defend against Apple's lawsuits was thought to be a key motivation behind Google buying Motorola.

What do you reckon to Apple's courtroom controversy? Are Apple's legal moves frivolous? Let me know in the comments or on our Facebook wall.