A federal judge in Chicago will hear arguments from Apple on Wednesday to seek an order to bar sales of some Motorola phones because of alleged patent infringements.

Apple has been pursuing its case against Motorola Mobility — now a unit of Google — since spring 2010. Initially, Motorola sued Apple in what many believed was a preemptive strike. Apple counter-sued a month later.

The judge in the case, Richard Posner, eliminated almost all of Motorola's patent claims against Apple in pretrial rulings, leaving several of Apple's claims. Earlier this month, however, Posner canceled the planned trial, ruling that neither side could prove damages and that an injunction would be "contrary to the public interest."

However, last week Posner changed course and granted Apple's hearing for a possible injunction. Both sides submitted their legal arguments earlier this week, which have been sealed.

If successful, Apple could restrict or limit the growth of iPhone-like features on Android and give it more strength in cross-licensing deals, in which the companies agree to use each other's patented technologies. In practice, Apple has executed few such deals, though it did cross-license some technology to Nokia in June 2011 after that company won a settlement against Apple over a patent dispute.