I'd like to know where Apple has been public about patents because I find that surprising. If anything, there seems to be hardly any corporate communication add

I'd like to know where Apple has been public about patents because I find that surprising. If anything, there seems to be hardly any corporate communication addressing these types of things letting the media speculate to their heart's content. Your premise about Motorola is incorrect. Google was required to approve the patent assertions against Apple. From FOSS Patents: >A few months after that Zeitgeist talk, in January 2012, Google authorized a Motorola Mobility lawsuit against Apple over six patents in the Southern District of Florida. The merger agreement was publicly available and absolutely unequivocal about the fact that Motorola needed Google's consent prior to bringing new IP assertions while the merger was under antitrust review. But even if that weren't the case, there would be nothing stopping them from settling or withdrawing the case.