Google-owned Motorola fails in Apple sensor patent challenge

US trade agency not persuaded that Apple infringed Motorola sensor patents

Apple has ensured that it will not face an import ban on its iPhones, after it persuaded a US trade agency that it did not infringe a sensory patent, owned by Motorola Mobility.

Google acquired Motorola's mobile phone unit last year for $12.5bn (£8bn), and was using the patents that were bought as part of the package to mire at its rival Apple in legal proceedings.

The patent in question, which was the sixth and final patent to still be in dispute between Motorola and Apple, covers a sensor that prevents a touch-screen mobile phone from being active when the device is held close to a person's face.

Apple could have faced a ban on imports of its iPhone devices into the US from its factories in China and Brazil if it was found guilty.

Motorola had initially called for a US ban on Apple's devices, claiming that Apple's iPhone infringed six Motorola patents that were not considered to be "standards essential", and that Apple was unwilling to negotiate a licence for these.

The US's International Trade Commission had ruled that three of the complaints were not legitimate, while two others were thrown out by Motorola.

The completion of the case follows a back and forth patent battle over the companies' respective mobile phone operating systems.

Back in March 2012, before Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility had been completed, a court in Chicago, Illinois had ordered Google to hand over information to Apple about both the development of the Android operating system, as well as its Motorola acquisition.

In April 2012, the judge in that case ruled that Apple infringed one of four Motorola patents regarding Wi-Fi networking. The case is now due back in court on Friday, 24 August. Motorola has asked the court to ban the import of the offending Apple products.

Meanwhile, Apple is to disclose its quarterly earnings today with forecasts suggesting that Apple could announce its first profit dip in 10 years.

However, Vannessa Barnett, a technology and media specialist at law firm Charles Russell, believes that the potential dip in profit should not be seen as the beginning of a decline for Apple.

"I'd call this a blip not the beginning of the end. The patent wars will settle down, new products will be launched and the rise of Apple will begin again. It may not be as overpowering as at the time of Steve Jobs but anyone who's thinking about writing them off is probably engaging in wishful thinking," she said.

But Victor Basta, managing director at Magister Advisors, believes that if device sales are down for Apple, the company should not "double down" on device innovation, but instead focus on its ecosystem.

"Apple in our view is a business going through a necessary transition from hardware as the dominant revenue stream. The right thing for Apple to do is to broaden themselves out, serve their huge community of credit card-enabled customers, and focus on micropayments and software," he said.

"If you see Apple as an ecosystem of credit card-enabled customers making micropayments, they only have one really significant competitor, Amazon, a business that begins to look more and more like Apple every day. We will hear more from Amazon later in the week and that will give us a much clearer picture of shifting industry dynamics," he added.