Judge Finds Apple Guilty Of Infringing One Motorola Patent

U.S. ITC Judge Thomas Pender has issued a ruling in favour of Motorola Mobility today, stating that Apple has infringed a 3G related patent owned by the company, reports Bloomberg. However, this ruling isn’t much of a victory for Motorola. For one thing, the ITC ruled in Motorola’s favor on only one out of four disputed patents. For another, the judge’s decision will still have to be reviewed by a six- member commission.

According to the source:

Apple violated one of four Motorola Mobility patent rights being contested, ITC Judge Thomas Pender said in a notice posted today. The patent relates to 3G technology. The other three patents weren’t violated, according to the notice.

The judge’s findings are subject to review by the six- member commission, which has the power to block imports that infringe U.S. patents.

In response, Kristin Huguet, an Apple spokeswoman, said to AllThingsD,

“We’re glad the court ruled in our favor on three of four patents patents being considered. The fourth covers industry-standard technology which Motorola has refused to license to Apple on reasonable terms. A court in Germany has already declared this patent invalid, so we believe we will have a very strong case on appeal.”

According to a recent statistical analysis, Apple had 29 percent of the smartphone market in 2011, compared with less than 8 percent for Motorola Mobility.

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