back to article Apple's chief patent lawyer exits, says report

Apple's top patent lawyer will soon exit the Cupertinian mothership, according to reports. As is usual with such high-profile departures, the question arises: did he jump, or was he pushed? The imminent departure of Richard "Chip" Lutton was reported on Tuesday by Reuters, citing the ever-loquacious "sources familiar with the …

COMMENTS

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    the reason?

    over-work, obviously

    1. Jah

      Apple cash rich

      Apple with a cash mountain of $Bns surely can afford as many legal eagles as they need.

  2. DZ-Jay

    A chip for a BJ

    Classic sub-title!

    -dZ.

  3. Arctic fox
    Headmaster

    On a more serious note it is possible.........

    ............that he is not happy with the current policy of all out patent wars. Not every lawyer would necesserily feel that Apple's current tactics are the wisest they could employ.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      seems unlikely

      The post is required, and must contain letters.

  4. banjomike
    Go

    I'm sure the rest of the Tech world will miss him.

    NOT.

    1. g e
      Gimp

      Actually

      I should imagine his detailed knowledge of crapple's patent litigation policies/tactics/gameplans would make him a superb catch for Samsung, Nokia, MS, Google, etc...

      Gimp cos well... apple.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    It would be like Apple management

    To blame the lawyer for their loss, instead of really owning up to the fact that they were infringing on Nokia's patents. Fr that, the "blame" if there is blame to be assigned, should go to the engineering staff and the management overseeing them for either not inventing "first", or for designing something outside the bounds of Apples' existing owned or licensed IP portfolio.

  6. johnnymotel
    Alert

    Nokia payment

    OK, let's get this straight, once and for all.

    Apple had no issue with paying for a Nokia license on FRAND terms, it's just that Nokia wanted more than FRAND and they wanted cross-licensing. This was all stated and up front from the beginning. So the battle began with each side throwing bigger and bigger stones. For all us plebs know, Nokia did finally agree to FRAND terms and didn't get any cross-license deal. There would have a been a back-payment for unpaid dues and maybe a one-off to get rid of Nokia's other claims.

    So probably a win-win for both sides.

    Why the guy left, could be due to Samsung's recent complaint that some of the legal people Apple are using have past associations with Samsung.

    On another matter, I find it amusing HTC should complain of 'Apple not competing fairly' just recently when one by one the Android makers are coughing up royalties to MS. Of course, the MS patents are court proven patents and quite possibly Apple is using HTC to prove their patents.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Pint

      As opposed to...

      > So probably a win-win for both sides.

      ...as opposed to a win-win for just one side?

      Clichéd phrase is clichéd.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Childcatcher

    Notable Apple Employee

    It is a sad day. I used to hear about the brilliant designers and inspirational leaders in Apple. Now it turns out that the notable employees are Patent Lawyers.

    This whole patent thing is a mess; corrupt and nonsensical way of extracting money from competitors, stifling innovation and making lawyers rich.

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