Apple Partially Cleared By ITC In Motorola Patent Case

Before Apple was awarded a victory in its lawsuit against Samsung by a US court, the US International Trade Commission issued a ruling in a separate case filed by Motorola, partially clearing Apple of patent infringement charges.

Motorola, now owned by Google, had filed a case with the ITC alleging infringement of patents relating to wireless technology. One of the patents is a part of an industry standard, which brings Motorola under the obligation to license it at fair and reasonable terms.

Apple was found to not violate two of the patents in question, including a standards essential patent. Additionally, a ruling that had earlier found Apple guilty of infringing a 3G related Motorola patent was also reversed.

It's not all over yet for Apple, as Bloomberg notes:

The U.S. International Trade Commission didn’t completely resolve the companies’ dispute, ordering a trade judge to reconsider Motorola Mobility’s claim that Apple violated another patent. The judge had previously found no violation of that patent, which applies to a sensor used to determine the proximity of a person’s head to the phone so it doesn’t accidentally hang up.

Besides, only a few days ago, Motorola filed a second suit against Apple with the ITC asking for a ban on the imports of infringing products, which spans across Apple's entire line of products.

ITC had faced some criticism over the possibility of banning the imports of a product that infringe standards essential patents. Since all the remaining patents in question, including the one from the new lawsuit, are not standards essential, the ITC is under no such pressure if it does choose to award a ban.