U.S Appeals Court Favors Apple Patent Case against Motorola on Touchscreen Technology

An appeals court decision that lets another argument that Google’s Motorola Mobility infringed on its patent for touchscreen technology is in favor of Apple.

The U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington was ordered by the Appeals Court to revisit as to whether Motorola’s Mobility transgressed on one patent and to assess if an aspect of another patent was valid. Posted on its website, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s opinion sustain invalidity results on other aspects of that patent.

An Apple lawyer once stated in the court about a key invention that “drove the iPhone phenomenon” is the focus of the case. The argument is about transparent screens that can react to multiple touches allowing users to use a mobile phone just by touching or swiping its screen.

Motorola Mobility convinced the court to rule that one of the patents wasn’t infringed and the other was invalid. The targeted phones include, Motorola’s Mobility Backflip, Charm, Cliq, Devour, Droid, Droid X, Droid 2 phones and Xoom tablet.

William Moss, spokesperson of Motorola Mobility said to the Detroit Free Press, “Today’s decision paves the way for the ITC to find Apple’s remaining claims are invalid and that our products don’t infringe. Meanwhile, we’ll stay focused on delivering great new phones that people love.”

On the other hand, spokesperson of Apple, Kristin Huguet said that the company had no comment.

Circuit Judge Kimberly Moore said that the commission misinterpreted a key phrased of the patent that was firstly found not infringed.

The three-judge panel was divided on the validity of the other patents. Moore said, “There was substantial evidence to support the commission’s finding that many aspects of the Apple multitouch patent were similar to an earlier patent issued in 2008.” And she wrote, “Not enough analysis was done to determine if a different element of the patent was an obvious variation of a Sony paper for a product called, SmartSkin.”

Circuit Judge Jimmie Reyna said he would have supported the entire multitouch patent, claiming it “marks true innovation.”

He added, “The asserted patent in this case is an invention that has propelled not just technology, but also dramatically altered how humans across the globe interact and communicate.”