Import Ban Averted By Apple Followed Victory Against Motorola!

One of the most renowned companies of the world is Apple Inc. This is an American multinational corporation that has its headquarters in Cupertino, California. The company is known for developing consumer electronics, personal computers and computer software. Some of the most popular products of the company include the iPod music player, the iPad tablet computer and the iPhone smartphone, along with the Mac line of computers. It is the second largest information technology company and holds a dominant position in the smartphone market because it’s the third largest mobile phone maker. The company just managed to avert what would have been a crisis for it.

An order was averted by the iPhone maker that could have caused trouble for the company in regard to the import of the iPhone 4 in the US. The company managed to persuade a US trade agency for invalidating a patent that belonged to Motorola Mobility, which is owned by Google Inc. This patent was linked to a phone sensor. Likewise, yesterday in Washington, the findings of a judge were upheld by the US International Trade Commission that also declared the patent invalid, but gave different reasons for doing so. A sensor is covered by the patent, which prevents the phone from activating an application or hanging up.
This decision is the latest encounter between Google and the Cupertino based Apple, but neither of the two companies has managed to launch a solid blow to their competitor in this squabble that begun two years back. Each of these companies have accused the other of infringing patents and Motorola Mobility was also accused by Apple Inc. for breaching the obligations of licensing some of its popular technology on fair and reasonable terms. A patent lawyer stated that this did not come as a surprise because Apple hadn’t been infringing on any patents.

He also added that the Commission took close notices of all the patent cases that are related to Apple Inc. because they tend to implicate a very crucial part of commerce and also a well-known product. A spokesman of Google Inc. Matt Kallman stated that the decision had disappointed the Mountain View, California based company and it was considering its options. However, there was no comment made by the Apple spokeswoman regarding this matter. The iPhone is integral to the company because nearly half of the company’s profits last year were generated by this device.

Although the iPhone 5 is the current top seller for the company since its launch in September last year, older models such as the iPhone 4 still enjoy considerable popularity. The import ban could be a problem because these devices of Apple Inc. are assembled in China and then imported into the US. The dispute between Google Inc. and Apple Inc. has been going on for the past two years. This is due to the fact that Apple claims that the Android operating system of Google copies the features and look of the iPhone and therefore, mar its uniqueness.