“Apple Inc. won a victory against Google Inc. in a patent case before a U.S. trade agency, which upheld findings by one of the agency’s judges,” Ian Sherr reports for The Wall Street Journal.
“A panel of judges at the International Trade Commission — which has the power to ban imports of products found to infringe a plaintiff’s patents — said Apple had successfully argued that a patent held by Google’s Motorola Mobility division was invalid,” Sherr reports. “The Google patent described sensors that, among other things, disable touch inputs when the product is positioned close to a person. The technology is designed to prevent inadvertent button presses when a phone is held up to a person’s head.”
Sherr reports, “‘We’re disappointed with this outcome and are evaluating our options,’ a Google spokesman said. The ITC’s decision on Monday is the latest win for Apple, which has been locking horns with competitors in courtrooms around the world as they argue over whether their products infringe one another’s patents.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Rohin” for the heads up.]
now to stick the pike up samsungs dunghole…give it a year and their goose is cooked
Hey, this is a total win for Google. Did they not speak of patents as a block to innovation? One less hurdle for all companies to innovate and yet they do not fully appreciate their loss.
With that win and $2.50, Apple can go to Starbucks and order that coffee they want.
A very small coffee.
when the iPhone appeared on the market, it functioned this way… I think this refers to the proximity sensor – as a user brings the multi-touch device up to ones ear, the muti-touch turns off… Apple filed a patent. NO other device was on the market using Multi-touch… the ownership should be rightfully Apples. No other PHONE on the market should function anything like the iPhone.
You don’t need to have a device on the market to have a patent for a new invention. That said, I seriously doubt Google/Motorola applied for any patents covering this type of sensor as this type of touch screen phone was not even on Motorola’s radar screen, and Google was doing all it could to copy Apple’s iOS.
The chips are starting to fall. Unfortunately the legal system often is beaten in the race by the tortoise, but in the end Apple will have a strong portfolio of patents it can use to force Samsung and other companies to alter their products or ban them entirely. It may take years, but it’s coming.