A district court this week ordered Google and Motorola to hand over details about their pending merger to Apple.
The order, from U.S. Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner, relates to a 2010 patent lawsuit that Apple filed against Motorola.
"Apple's motion of March 2 to compel Motorola and Google to provide discovery concerning Google's acquisition of Android, Inc., Google's development of the Android OS, and Google's acquisition of Motorola is granted," Judge Posner wrote in his Monday decision.
Apple made the request earlier this month, about two weeks after the Department of Justice and the European Commission approved the $12.5 billion merger of Motorola Mobility and Google, which has yet to formally close. Specifically, Apple wants "information relating to Google's development of the Android functionality used in the Motorola accused products."
Apple argued that the Android information is "highly relevant" to its case.
"For example, the Motorola products accused of infringing the Apple asserted patents run on Google's Android operating system, and the amount that Google paid to acquire and develop Android and the asserted features is thus relevant to the non-obviousness and value of the patented functionalities," Apple wrote on March 2. "Similarly, Google's purchase of Motorola—including the Motorola smartphones and tablets accused of infringing Apple's patents—is also relevant to the the nonobviousness and value of the patented features as such discovery will show, for example, the value that Google placed on the patented features and accused products in its decision to acquire Motorola."
Google tried to avoid involvement given that it was a "non-party," Apple said, but the DOJ and EU approval means "the parties will soon become the same entity," Cupertino said.
The judge, meanwhile, ordered Motorola to turn over information about another patent by tomorrow. He will review that data and decide if Apple should be able to "compel production materials relating to that patent."
The dispute stands to go on for many more months. Patent blogger Florian Mueller wrote today that June will be a key month for Apple's cases against Motorola and Samsung in the United States. As Bloomberg, which first reported the story, noted today, Judge Posner "has scheduled back-to-back trials before separate juries starting June 11."
The decision comes soon after the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court in Germany suspended the enforcement of a ruling by the Mannheim Regional Court. Motorola Mobility will now be prevented from further enforcement of its so-called standard-essential patent injunction against Apple in Germany.
For more, see Google Acquires Motorola Mobility: What You Need to Know.