Apple Inc. has spent at least $32 million in one patent-infringement dispute with Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Motorola Mobility unit -- one among many legal fights on four continents.
Add them up and it’s clear the Cupertino, California-based company is paying hundreds of millions of dollars in its quest to prove that Samsung Electronics Co. (005930), Motorola Mobility and HTC Corp. ripped off the iPhone.
As Bloomberg’s Susan Decker reports, the lawsuits are a boon for patent lawyers, who bill companies as much as $1,200 an hour each for their ability to help jurors and judges understand technology and arcane rules of law. Apple has spent more than $2 million on expert witnesses alone for a trial (AAPL) in its case against Samsung in federal court in San Jose, California, based on a compilation of what witnesses said they were being paid. That case is in the hands of the jury.
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, the firm that has become the Android protector in representing Samsung, Motorola and HTC, bills an average of $821 an hour for a partner and $448 for an associate, according to a July 22 filing in the trial in San Jose. Lawyers can bill as much as 80 hours a week during trial.
Morrison & Foerster LLP, which represents Apple in the trial, has a median partner rate of $582 an hour and $398 for associates, the firm said in a May 7 filing.
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