Apple Inc. AAPL +2.08% won a victory against Google Inc. GOOG +0.03% in a patent case before a U.S. trade agency, which upheld findings by one of the agency's judges.
A panel of judges at the International Trade Commission—which has the power to ban imports of products found to infringe a plaintiff's patents—said Apple had successfully argued that a patent held by Google's Motorola Mobility division was invalid.
The Google patent described sensors that, among other things, disable touch inputs when the product is positioned close to a person. The technology is designed to prevent inadvertent button presses when a phone is held up to a person's head.
A spokeswoman for Apple declined to comment.
"We're disappointed with this outcome and are evaluating our options," a Google spokesman said.
The ITC's 0372.HK 0.00% decision on Monday is the latest win for Apple, which has been locking horns with competitors in courtrooms around the world as they argue over whether their products infringe one another's patents.
Apple has had some success in its pursuits, including a $1 billion victory againstSamsung Electronics Co. 005930.SE -1.40% in a jury trial in August of last year. That amount, however, was recently reduced as Samsung argued that the jury improperly calculated Apple's awards.
The ITC said it chose to end its investigation related to Motorola MSI +0.10% and Apple because Apple had successfully argued that Google's patent was invalid because it wasn't different enough from previous inventions.
source:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323735604578439392390344304.html?mod=WSJ_business_whatsNews
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