The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington has ruled that Apple did not infringe a patent owned by Google-owned Motorola Mobility unit that deals with controlling data delivery and other mobile phone technologies.
"Motorola failed to establish the technical prong of the domestic industry requirement," wrote Federal Judge Jimmie V. Reyna in the court's decision. "Because these conclusions of the Commission were supported by substantial evidence, we affirm."
The decision upholds an earlier ruling by the International Trade Commission (ITC), which did not find Apple guilty of infringing any patent. In 2010, Motorola had unsuccessfully filed a complaint with the ITC, saying Apple's iOS push notification system violated its U.S. Patent No. 6,272,333.
Apart from the notification system, Motorola also accused Apple of infringing five other patents, including the technology used in reducing the signal noise and programming the device's touch screen so a user's head does not accidentally activate it while talking on the phone.
At that time, Motorola was involved with Apple in "lengthy negotiations" for licensing the patent but when Apple refused to agree to the licensing terms, Motorola filed the suit.
Google bought Motorola Mobility in 2012 for $12.4 billion. The deal was largely motivated by Motorola Mobility's trove of more than 17,000 patents that carried the potential to counter allegations of infringement by rivals Apple and Microsoft that were gunning to take Android down.
"We're disappointed in this decision and are evaluating our options," Motorola said in a statement. The company may ask to the court to review the case or even approach the Supreme Court to hear it.
Apple did not respond to requests for comments.
