Apple Inc. (AAPL): Siri Lawsuit Judge Recuses Himself

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has found itself to be the target of a couple of recent lawsuits, claiming that the innovative tech company has actually stolen the innovation for its Siri voice-assistant technology from other companies. But the transcendentalism and reach of a major worldwide brand that is Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has apparently affect at least one of the lawsuits right at the bench of the arbiter of the case.

A patent-infringement lawsuit filed by Dynamic Advances against Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will see a change of judge, as New York District Judge Gary Sharpe announced this week he was recusing himself from oversight of the case, claiming an “interest” in the respondent. In his announcement, though, the judge did not specify what the interest was, though it is believed to involve a financial interest – like ownership of stocks or other share in the company. Whatever the interest is, it must be of an amount significant enough that the judge declared himself “unqualified” to hear the case.

Dynamic Advances is a Texas-based firm that licenses a voice-recognition patent from Renesselaer Polytechnic Institute. The firm is suing Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by claiming that the Siri voice-based assistant infringes on the patent it licenses but does not own, according to reports. “Apple has infringed and continues to infringe one or more claims of the ‘798 Patent by processing natural-language inputs in the United States. For example, Apple’s Siri personal assistant includes technology claimed in the ‘798 Patent,” said the Dynamic Advances letter to the court.

It is reported that Judge David Hurd has been tapped to replace Sharpe as the presiding arbiter of the case of Dynamic Advances v. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). Anyone wonder how much of an investor Judge Sharpe might be? Could he be “interested” in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) as much as billionaire fund manager David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital?