International Trade Commission Clears Apple of Violating Motorola’s WiFi Patent, Only 1 Left To Go
It was back in April, Apple found themselves in a bit of hot water after an initial ITC ruling found them in violation Motorola’s standard-essential WiFi patent. Phandroids everywhere rejoiced, but they may have popped the champagne a little early.
Today the International Trade Commission finished its review of the initial determination and, as it turns out, cleared Apple of not just the WiFi patent mentioned above, but 2 other Motorola patents as well. If this sounds like good news for Apple — not so fast. The ITC also ended up reversing a previous indefiniteness claim on a “sensor controlled user interface for portable communication device” (US Patent No. 6,246,862). This means there is still a chance that Apple could be found in violation of the aforementioned patent at the very least, making an import ban possible.
I guess now we’ll just have to play the waiting game before we hear anything. Whenever the ITC has to take another look at a case (which means yet another ruling and review), that whole process can easily take another calendar year. This gives Apple plenty of time to figure out their game plan/next target.
[FOSSPatents | Engadget]