Appeals court upholds ITC ruling that Apple did not infringe Motorola data patent [u]

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Friday upheld an International Trade Commission decision that Apple did not infringe on a Motorola patent covering data delivery to mobile devices.

Update: An earlier version of this story referenced a different invention, U.S. Patent No. 6,246,862. That patent, covering proximity sensors in mobile devices, was not considered by the appeals court.

"Motorola failed to establish the technical prong of the domestic industry requirement," Federal Judge Jimmie V. Reyna wrote in the court's decision. "Because these conclusions of the Commission were supported by substantial evidence, we affirm."

Sitting on the panel with Judge Reyna were judges Prost and Bryson.

Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola first filed a complaint with the ITC in 2010, alleging that Apple's Apple's iOS push notification system violated Motorola's U.S. Patent No. 6,272,333. The ITC ruled against Motorola in that case, and the company then appealed the decision.

At the time, Motorola claimed to have engaged in "lengthy negotiations" with Apple to license the patent, along with 17 others covering foundational technologies like 3G, GPRS, and antenna design. When Apple "refused" to agree to licensing terms, Motorola filed suit.

Motorola has suffered setback after setback in its ongoing legal scuffle against Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple. The iPhone maker scored back-to-back victories in November of last year, and a case alleging that Motorola infringed Apple's multitouch patents is ongoing after another appeals court ruling reversed an earlier ITC decision to dismiss the suit.