Apple is on the losing end of an initial ruling with Motorola

Apple is on the losing end of an initial ruling by the U.S. International Trade Commission in the company’s battle with Motorola. On Friday, an administrative law judge at the ITC made an initial determination that Motorola does not infringe claims in three Apple patents. The ITC took on the case in November after Apple asked it to forbid Motorola from importing certain phones to the U.S. that Apple alleged infringe the patents.

Apple declined to comment on the ruling. Motorola said it was pleased with judge’s decision. The ruling follows a win for Apple last month when the commission decided to block HTC from importing phones that infringe Apple patents. Apple and Motorola are also battling in courts in Europe, where German authorities recently awarded Motorola an injunction that would prevent the sale of Apple products in that country. Motorola is also fighting in court with Microsoft over patents. Motorola recently agreed to be acquired by Google.

Droid X, BackFlip
Motorola Mobility, which was spun off from Motorola Inc. last year and then later agreed to be bought by Google, filed three patent lawsuits and an ITC complaint in October 2010 targeting Apple’s iPhone, iPad and MacBook. Motorola Mobility was accused by Apple of infringing three patents, including two that cover touch screen technology.

Microsoft Case
A trade commission judge in Motorola Mobility’s case against Apple is scheduled to release his findings April 23. Motorola Mobility also is fighting with Microsoft Corp. over patented technology. Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft claims Motorola Mobility refuses to pay royalties for use of patented technology, while Motorola Mobility has accused Microsoft of infringing patents on video-game systems.--Judge Essex last month said that Motorola Mobility infringed one Microsoft patent, and cleared it of violating six others.