Effingo Wireless, a San Antonio company without much more than a website and a patent, decided to sue Motorola (PDF) for patent infringement on Aug. 11, 2011. Four days later, Google announced it would be acquiring Motorola, lawsuits and all.

That was probably bad news for Effingo, because even with patent lawsuits sprouting up right and left and the cost of defense in the millions, Google doesn't settle many cases. So it suddenly became quite difficult for the founder of Effingo—a Texas patent lawyer named William Ryann—to get Motorola to pay him for his patents. Instead, the case went to trial in San Antonio last week, and Google destroyed Effingo's patent. A jury found it invalid (PDF) after a three-day trial.

Ryann had claimed he invented a new kind of Bluetooth headset, reflected in his US Patent No. 7,505,793.

Ryann's patent application was filed in 2005, and a patent was granted in 2009. He said the Motorola S9, S9HD, and S10HD headsets, which displace most of their bulk behind the user's head, all infringed his patent.

Motorola argued that this had all been done before and that the accused products, which it had designed in 2004, weren't really that new even then. The judge rejected Motorola's summary judgment motion, seeing the case in a kind of "he said, she said," paradigm. "The experts predictably disagree with each other," wrote US District Judge Harry Lee Hudspeth. "Their testimony demonstrates there is a genuine issue of material fact that precludes summary judgment on this issue."

Prior art references cited by Motorola didn't disclose an "actuator at the user's ear to serve as a physical controlling interface for the user."

A non-infringement argument by Motorola failed as well, due to some disagreement about the meaning of the word "neckline." (Yes, this is seriously what patent lawsuits can boil down to.)

In the end, Motorola won out when a jury was unimpressed by Ryann's patent. "While we always prefer to innovate rather than litigate, we make it a policy to fight frivolous patent claims and litigation abuses like this," said Motorola spokesman.

Inventor and Effingo owner Ryann told Ars: "Obviously we are disappointed in the outcome. I am not in a position to discuss things further at this time but would welcome inquiry in the future." Although his company hasn't marketed any headsets, Ryann emphatically rejected any suggestion that Effingo was a "patent troll," saying, "We are actively working with a local engineering team on prototyping. Suggestions to the contrary are incorrect."