14 DAY TRIAL // Three attorneys at Carr & Ferrell are listed on the Monday filing that extends Psystar Corp.'s deadline to respond to Apple's lawsuit, Computerworld is reporting. According to the same report, Colby Springer, Christine Watson and Robert Yorio (partner at the firm) have previously beaten Apple in court.
It has been revealed that Miami-based Mac-cloner Psystar has hired a law firm with experience in kicking Apple's butt. Both Yorio and Springer were among the lawyers who represented Santa Rosa, Calif.-based Burst.com Inc. in its patent-infringement case against Apple, two years ago. The parts settled out of court late last year. Apple agreed to end the fiasco and pay Burst $10 million to license its audio- and video-streaming patents, after being accused of using its methods in the technologies leveraged by the iPod and the iTunes online music store.
This time around, Apple is the one suing, and for good reason too (or so it says, at least). Basically, Psystar makes a living by selling regular PCs. No biggie, except it has also made a habit out of shipping the units with pre-installed OSes, including Apple's own OS X Leopard. The procedure of modifying and using Extensible Firmware Interface and drivers is in direct violation with said EULA. The same document also states that no one is allowed to use OS X Leopard on anything else but an Apple-branded computer. For its part, Psystar believes that Apple's terms themselves violate U.S. monopoly laws, adding that the Cupertino-based company "grossly overcharges for its hardware," according to a Psystar spokesperson.
As for Apple... "We take it very seriously when we believe people have stolen our intellectual property," a spokesperson stated just after the filing of the suit. Apple's attorneys will meet with Psystar's recently appointed representatives, Carr & Ferrell, in October. Apple demanded that the suit be placed before a regular district court judge, not a magistrate judge. Additionally, should Apple win, Psystar will not only have to stop selling its Mac clones, but also to recall all sold units, which might eventually terminate its business.