Apple has managed to avoid a potential import ban on its iPhone after they convinced a US trade agency to invalidate a patent owned by Google’s Motorola Mobility unit. The patent relates to a phone sensor that prevents the phone from being activated when it is being held next to the user’s face. This represents the final decision in a two year long battle between Apple and Motorola – a case which was taken on by Google after they purchased the mobile phone giant.
A number of high profile and less publicised patent cases have been brought by the likes of Apple and Motorola. Recently, Apple lost its fight when they claimed that the swipe to unlock feature used in phones made by the likes of Samsung and Motorola was an Apple technology. Courts decided, in that particular case, that the technology was not patent-worthy so could be used by other companies.
Two years ago, Motorola opened up its own patent case against the California based Apple company. They claimed that Apple had infringed on 18 of their patents. What’s more, when Google bought the mobile phone company, they further extended the case to claim an additional six patent infringement all related to the iCloud service. The decision today, although it is likely to be contested by Google, represents the final patent in this list.
The patent in question is Patent No 6,246,862 and is concerned with a sensor that is used in mobile phones to detect when the phone is near the user’s face. The sensor is then used to ensure that applications are not opened, calls finished, or other actions taken when the phone touches the face. The technology is used in the Apple iPhone as well as in a number of other mobile phone handsets. Had Apple lost the case then they could have endured a ban on the import of their iPhone handsets into the US while the patent issue was resolved.
However, the International Trade Commission upheld a previous ruling, albeit for different reasons. The ITC agreed that the idea was obvious when considering previous technologies used by mobile phone and technology companies to prevent unwitting gestures made by the caller when they held the phone near their face to make or answer a call. Google have said that they are disappointed in the decision, and the company has the right to challenge the decision at the US Court of Appeals.
