Appeals court upholds ITC ruling that Apple did not infringe Motorola data patent [u]

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Friday upheld an International Trade Commission decision that Apple did not infringe on a Motorola patent covering data delivery to mobile devices.

Motorola patent case


Update: An earlier version of this story referenced a different invention, U.S. Patent No. 6,246,862. That patent, covering proximity sensors in mobile devices, was not considered by the appeals court.

"Motorola failed to establish the technical prong of the domestic industry requirement," Federal Judge Jimmie V. Reyna wrote in the court's decision. "Because these conclusions of the Commission were supported by substantial evidence, we affirm."

Sitting on the panel with Judge Reyna were judges Prost and Bryson.

Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola first filed a complaint with the ITC in 2010, alleging that Apple's Apple's iOS push notification system violated Motorola's U.S. Patent No. 6,272,333. The ITC ruled against Motorola in that case, and the company then appealed the decision.

At the time, Motorola claimed to have engaged in "lengthy negotiations" with Apple to license the patent, along with 17 others covering foundational technologies like 3G, GPRS, and antenna design. When Apple "refused" to agree to licensing terms, Motorola filed suit.

Motorola has suffered setback after setback in its ongoing legal scuffle against Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple. The iPhone maker scored back-to-back victories in November of last year, and a case alleging that Motorola infringed Apple's multitouch patents is ongoing after another appeals court ruling reversed an earlier ITC decision to dismiss the suit.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 83
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    Motorola has suffered setback after setback in its ongoing legal scuffle...

     

    Do the lawyers still get paid?

  • Reply 2 of 83
    $12 Billion down the drain.
  • Reply 3 of 83

    This explains why AAPL stock is dropping again today.

  • Reply 4 of 83
    timbittimbit Posts: 331member
    It's been 7 years... Time to move on, no?
  • Reply 5 of 83

    Evil Google a-holes must be pissed… they spent all those BILLIONS on garbage Motorola patents and got nothing for them. Heheh

  • Reply 6 of 83
    newbeenewbee Posts: 2,055member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Timbit View Post



    It's been 7 years... Time to move on, no?

    According to the article,  ... "Motorola first filed a complaint with the ITC in August 2012". So how do you figure 7 years ???

  • Reply 7 of 83
    noahjnoahj Posts: 4,503member
    newbee wrote: »
    According to the article,  ... "Motorola first filed a complaint with the ITC in August 2012". So how do you figure 7 years ???
    7 years since the iPhone was initially released. The first iPhone had this technology. I am sure that is what he is referring to.
  • Reply 8 of 83
    muppetrymuppetry Posts: 3,331member

    As far as I can tell from the linked ruling, this had nothing to do with proximity sensors, and was instead about communication of available applications to receive push notifications. They still lost though.

  • Reply 9 of 83
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,212member
    T

    Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola first filed a complaint with the ITC in August 2012, alleging that Apple's use of a proximity sensor to automatically disable the iPhone's display when held to a user's ear violated Motorola's U.S. Patent No. 6,272,333. The ITC <a href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/12/18/apple-cleared-of-infringing-on-motorola-patent-in-itc-case">ruled</a> against Motorola in December of that year, and the company immediately indicated their intention to appeal.

    The ITC <a href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/02/19/itc-to-review-decision-that-cleared-apple-of-infringing-on-motorola-patents">agreed</a> to revisit the decision in February 2013 and again found in Apple's favor. Motorola then elevated the case to the Federal Court of Appeals, which handed down Friday's ruling. ef="http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/08/07/apple-wins-appeal-reinstating-itc-case-against-googles-motorola">ruling</a> reversed an earlier ITC decision to dismiss the suit.

    I think the AI writer is confused on the timeline. The original Motorola complaint citing the "proximity sensor" patent, which predated even the Motorola Mobility spin-off, was filed back in 2010. The most recent ITC finding was due to a remand by the ITC Commission and appeal of the original finding of no infringement. The new August 2012 ITC case the author mentions was most likely the one dropped roughly a month later without explanation and did not involve that patent.
    With regard to this particular ITC case in August of last year there was only a reaffirmation of Judge Pender's original finding of non-infringement. There's no active new infringement cases filed against either Microsoft or Apple since Google's purchase last May. With this latest ruling all the old lawsuits are approaching finality with no new lawsuits from either MM or Google in the pipeline. Finally. :\
  • Reply 10 of 83
    fallenjtfallenjt Posts: 4,054member

    Sorry Google...you wasted $12 billions on a dying cat. Where can you recoup the money? Next, you will have to pay Oracle about Java blatant copy too...

  • Reply 11 of 83
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,212member
    bighype wrote: »
    Evil Google a-holes must be pissed… they spent all those BILLIONS on garbage Motorola patents and got nothing for them. Heheh

    FWIW there's no evidence that Google bought MM with the intent of ever suing any of it's competitors using their patents. Apparently the feeling of a few folks is that if they aren't suing then all those patents must be worthless? Strange reasoning. Even Apple who has never passed a courtroom they didn't like has sued on only a very tiny number of the thousands they control. Does that make all the others worthless?
  • Reply 12 of 83
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bighype View Post

     

    Evil Google a-holes must be pissed… they spent all those BILLIONS on garbage Motorola patents and got nothing for them. Heheh


    I think Google looks at it as "free" money! 

     

    I don't think they even think they "earned" the billions spent on Motorola...

     

    Best.

  • Reply 13 of 83
    fallenjt wrote: »
    Sorry Google...you wasted $12 billions on a dying cat. Where can you recoup the money? Next, you will have to pay Oracle about Java blatant copy too...

    Nonsense. All Google Motorola has to do is enter those "LOL@APPLE" photoshops into evidence and voila! Instant court win. Works in the forums, so it should hold up in court. /s
  • Reply 14 of 83
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,093member

    Keep tightening that noose around Google's neck!!  They certainly deserve everything that happens to them.

  • Reply 15 of 83

    Another mushroom cloud in SJ's thermonuclear war.

  • Reply 16 of 83
    (Deleted)

  • Reply 17 of 83
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post

     


    Even Apple who has never passed a courtroom they didn't like ...

    Huh?

  • Reply 18 of 83
    timbittimbit Posts: 331member
    newbee wrote: »
    According to the article,  ... "Motorola first filed a complaint with the ITC in August 2012". So how do you figure 7 years ???

    Yes, as NoahJ said, I was referring to the fact that this has been incorporated into the iPhone since it's launch.
  • Reply 19 of 83
    pdq2pdq2 Posts: 270member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by tdknox View Post

     

    This explains why AAPL stock is dropping again today.


     

    Quite.

     

    Gartner says that PC sales are dropping even faster than feared, while Mac sales are up strongly.

     

    Therefore, MSFT and INTC are up, while AAPL is down by $5, again.

     

    Is this some kind of "sell-on-news", or market contrarianism, or inside info re Apple we're not seeing?

     

    Or pure market stupidity?

  • Reply 20 of 83
    pdq2pdq2 Posts: 270member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post





    FWIW there's no evidence that Google bought MM with the intent of ever suing any of it's competitors using their patents. 

     

    Yeh. They spent $12B just to go into competition with Android partners, using that powerhouse hardware juggernaut, Motorola.

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