While Apple is fighting its biggest legal battle against its smartphone rival Samsung, it was able to put our a small fire from Motrola technology on Friday. Apple's iPhone has been ruled to not infringe on patented technology from Google's Motorola technology, according to an appeals court.
PCMag reports the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld an April 2003 decision from the International Trade Commission in favor of Apple.
The patent in question covers a "sensor controlled user interface for portable communication device" it is also known as the feature that prevents accidental hang-ups or app launches by your face while talking on the phone.
"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 idefinite article 'a', when used in conjunction with the open transitional word 'compromising,' carries the meaning of 'one or more, 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." According to the court, Motorola did this.
According to reports, Motorola also failed to establish evidence to demonstrate a casual connection between a change in accessibility of an app and communication of the change in accessibility of that app. This will be done without further action by the handset users.
"We're disappointed in this decision and are evaluating our options," a spokesperson from Motorola said in a statement to PC Mag. Apple did not respond to the site for comment.
This legal victory comes just one day after the news that Apple and its courtroom rival Samsung will be attempting to settle their many legal differences through the use of court appointed mediator. This has been attempted in some capacity in the past but those efforts were unsuccessful and resulted in failure.