Trade commission sides with Apple in Motorola patent case

The US International Trade Commission on Monday tossed out a Motorola Mobility patent claim that threatened to block the import of some Apple iPhone models into this country.

The commission dismissed a complaint by Google-owned Motorola Mobility accusing Apple of infringing on patented technology that makes touch screens ignore fingers when people are holding smartphones to their ears for calls.

The filing by acting commission secretary Lisa Barton indicated the investigation into the Motorola complaint filed in late 2010 was terminated.

The ITC reasoned that the technology at issue in the patents wasn't original enough to support the accusation.

Competition between technology titans such as Apple, Google, and Samsung long ago spread to the courts in the battle for supremacy in the booming markets for smartphones and tablet computers.

A judge last month cut $450 million from a $1 billion award to be paid by Samsung in a landmark patent lawsuit from Apple, saying a jury had wrongly calculated the damages.

(c) 2013 AFP