ITC finds that the Apple iPhone does not infringe on Motorola patent

The ITC ruled in favor of Apple on Monday, handing Motorola another stinging legal defeat. That makes two losses for the Google subsidiary since Friday when a German court denied Motorola Germany an injunction against Microsoft over a dubious push notification patent.

On Monday, the ITC ruled that Apple did not infringe on a patent held by Motorola for sensors that prevent a phone from dialing a phone number by mistake when a touchscreen is pushed up against a user's face. With the decision, the ITC has completed its investigation and has reached a final conclusion that there was no violation in reference to the '862 patent.

Back in February, the 6 member ITC commission said it would review the decision made by Administrative Law Judge Thomas Pender that Motorola's proximity sensor covered by the '862 patent was not different than a previous invention. But Motorola said that prior art covered a device with buttons, not a touchscreen which is what Motorola's patent covers. Now that the ITC has ruled in favor of Apple, the Google subsidiary can appeal this decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. That happens to be where a previous ITC decision lies, one that saw the agency toss out three other Motorola patents.

source: FOSSPatents via PCMag