International Trade Commission Judge Thomas Pender has decided that Apple’s products violate one Motorola Mobility patent related to Wi-Fi technology, reports “Bloomberg” (http://macte.ch/d8j7a).
The judge’s findings are still subject to review by the six members of the ITC, but the ruling “puts Motorola one step closer to potentially blocking the importation of Apple devices like the iPhone and iPad,” the article adds. The ITC is scheduled to complete the investigation by Aug. 23. If it deems that an import ban is warranted, that decision is subject to review by both President Barack Obama and an appeals court that specializes in patent law, notes “Bloomberg.”
All this is part of an ongoing battle between the two companies. Apple has previously alleged that Motorola infringes 24 of its patents (21 of them with Android-based phones, the remaining three with set-top boxes and DVRs), while Motorola previously asserted 18 patents against a variety of Apple products (mostly but not exclusively iPhone, iPad and iPod). Litigation between the two companies has taken place in several different federal courts.
In November 2010 Apple sued Motorola, alleging that the company’s smartphone lineup and the operating software it uses infringe on the iPhone-maker’s intellectual property. The two lawsuits came after Motorola sued Apple in October 2010 for patent infringement. Motorola claims that Apple’s iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and certain Mac computers infringe Motorola patents.