Apple Wins Patent Appeal Against Motorola; Samsung Dispute Set for Mediation

A U.S. appeals court ruled Friday that Apple did not infringe on Motorola smartphone patents.

The disputed patent includes methods "for controlling a delivery of data from a fixed portion of the wireless communication system to a subscriber unit." Basically, the tech prevents accidental hang-ups or app launches by your face while talking on the phone. The case dates back to 2012, when Google purchased Motorola and filed an infringement suit against Apple to ban the import of tempted to ban the import of the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch into the U.S.

"Motorola relies on the proposition that the word 'a' in patent claims generally means 'one or more,'" the court decision said.
"As a general rule, the indefinite article 'a,' when used in conjunction with the open transitional word 'comprising,' carries the meaning of 'one or more,'" it continued. "But this general rule does not apply when the context of the use of 'a' within the claim clearly demonstrates that it is limited to the singular," which the court claims Motorola did.

"We're disappointed in this decision and are evaluating our options," a Motorola spokesman said in a statement.

Motorola filed its initial complaint with the ITC in November 2010, accusing the Cupertino-based company of violating six of its patents. All six have either been tossed out by the court or were quashed after "flip-flopping," according to PC Mag.

Meanwhile, Samsung and Apple CEOs have agreed to 'mediate it out' prior to their March court appearance over smartphone patent disputes.

Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung CEO Oh-Hyun Kwon, along with their respective in-house lawyers, will attend a mediation session on or before February 19, according to a court filing outlined by Reuters.

The legal teams from Samsung and Apple met on January 6 to discuss settlement options—apparently to no avail, given the mediation agreement. Should the upcoming session also prove unsuccessful, the tech giants will square off in court over Apple's claim that Samsung committed patent infringement.

Since they began litigating in 2011 (the companies have gone to court on two occasions), Apple has been awarded $930 million.