Here are your Apple rumors and AAPL news items for today:

Apple Tries to Block Motorola Phones: At a hearing before Federal Judge Richard Posner in Chicago, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) will attempt to persuade the court to issue an order blocking the sale of Google‘s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Motorola Mobility-made phones in the U.S., Reuters reports. The judge, who had scheduled a trial for later this year, cancelled that trial earlier this month, saying neither Apple nor Motorola could establish damages, and denying an injunction. An injunction against Motorola phones could support Apple’s litigation against other handset makers, including Samsung, Reuters says.

Microsoft Kept Partners in the Dark About iPad Rival

: Some long-time manufacturing partners of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) only learned about its Surface tablet days before Redmond debuted it, Reuters says. The Surface tablet is aimed to take on the iPad in the rapidly growing tablet market. Microsoft strayed from its traditional course of advising its partners long before unveiling new products, maintaining a secrecy reminiscent of Apple’s own product development path, Reuters notes.

Stanford University Adds Social Media to Its iTunes U Course: Stanford University will team with social learning start-up Piazza to bring interactive features to its course on developing apps for Apple’s iPad and iPhones, Apple Insider says. Stanford began offering course on app development for iPhones in 2009. Stanford and Piazza “worked closely” with Apple to add Piazza’s features to the iTunes U course, Apple Insider notes.

For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors stories.