U.S. District Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California spelled out—quite literally—his displeasure with Apple Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. on Thursday for requesting nearly $10 million in attorneys fees in an "exceptional" patent case.

Alsup indicated during a telephonic hearing that he'll be approving a fraction of that amount—he didn't specify how much—but warned the tech giants they'll get zero if they ever submit such "abusive" and "disrespectful" requests again.

"Next time, if it's not reasonable from the get-go, it will be denied in its totality," he told Desmarais partner Justin Wilcox, representing Cisco, and Hogan Lovells partner Clay James, representing Apple along with Apple Senior Counsel Katherine Kaso-Howard. "You in-house lawyer there at Apple, you ought to take good note of this, because I'm blaming you, too, for greed," Alsup said. "G-R-E-E-D."

Alsup declared the case exceptional in November after patent owner Straight Path IP Group took inconsistent claim construction positions between the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and Alsup's court. But he's been unhappy with the tech giants since Apple requested $4.6 million and Cisco sought $5.3 million in fees and costs.

James noted that Apple had dialed back its request to $2.7 million after Alsup referred the dispute to a special master. The special master recommended that $2.3 million be awarded, and Apple had no objection. "There are lots of things in an order that we can disagree with, but we felt that it was time to bring this to a close," James said.

Wilcox emphasized that Straight Path had been seeking $41 million in damages, with the potential for $123 million with enhancements. Wilcox said the firm actually paid Desmarais and Baker Botts $5.2 million, but asked special master Matthew Borden for only $3.8 million. Borden in turn reduced that by 50%, recommending a $1.9 million award. "We think that fairly addresses any complaint that Straight Path has, and we would urge the court to adopt the special master's recommendation," Wilcox said.

Russ, August & Kabat partner Brian Ledahl reminded Alsup that he had cautioned the parties not to overreach when he referred the dispute to Borden. "We submit that Cisco in particular did not take that to heart," Ledahl said.

Alsup sounded like he's still seething from the initial requests last fall. "I want Apple and Cisco to know that you played games," he said. "Your initial request was so far beyond the pale that I almost denied it completely, as abusive, and disrespectful to the court, and trying to manipulate the record and many other things."

But he made clear that this warning "is for the future." He said he would rule on the fee awards in the next week.