Apple's attempts to gain leverage in the smartphone patent-infringement scuffles were delivered a blow on Monday by U. S. District Judge Barbara Crabb who dismissed Apple's patent-abuse lawsuit against Google's Motorola Mobility subsidiary.

Tossing Apple's breach-of-contract claims against Motorola mobility, Judge Crabb canceled a trial which was scheduled to begin in Federal District Court in Madison, Wis., on Monday; and said that there was no reason to hold a trial if it would not help resolve the ongoing licensing battle between Apple and Motorola Mobility.

With Apple arguing that Motorola's licensing practices - for its patent trove which Google acquired when it took over Motorola Mobility this May, in a $12.5 billion deal - were unfair, Judge Crabb's dismissal of Apple's claims came after she raised questions late last week about her legal authority to hear Apple's complaint.

The remarks by Judge Crabb came against the backdrop that Apple had accused Google of seeking `too high' royalty for Motorola's patents which relate to industry standards; and the judge had said that she would ascertain a royalty rate for Motorola's industry-essentially patents.

However, Apple had, in its last-week court filing, argued that it would take a license to Motorola's industry-essential patents only if Judge Crabb set the royalty rate at $1 or less for each iPhone!