Google-owned Motorola recently filed its second U.S. International Trade Commission suit against Apple. The filing claimed that the iPhone, iPad, and certain Mac computers infringed on Motorola patents on features including location reminders, e-mail notification, and phone/video players. Although the details are scarce, Bloomberg noted that the ITC suit could result in a U.S. import ban of Apple products using the patents Motorola claims are being infringed upon. The exact patents and allegations on the other hand remain unknown as the filing has not yet been made available to the public.
The new ITC filing is the second complaint from Motorola, with the first stemming from failed licensing negotiations back from 2010.Apple entered counter-claims by stating that Google Android handsets, including those made by Motorola, copy the company’s patents instead of the situation being vice versa. The countersuit ended up failing and Motorola was cleared of the charges in March. Apple is currently in the process of appealing the ruling. As of right now, the ITC is set to rule on a review of an April finding where Trade Judge Thomas Pender deemed that Apple violated one of the four Motorola patents in question. The full commission’s decision is expected to be handed down on August 24.
Motorola issued a statement regarding the situation which stated the following: “We would like to settle these patent matters, but Apple’s unwillingness to work out a license leaves us little choice but to defend ourselves and our engineers’ innovations." Apple didn’t issue an official response to the matter though so we’ll have to wait and see what will come of the ordeal.
Source: Bloomberg
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