For the past several years, Apple has been the subject of patent litigation–whether as the party suing or being sued. The Yau Law Firm handles various types of patent work, whether that is filing patent applications, doing patent research, enforcing or defending against a registered patent. So, for this recent news on Apple and Motorola, we certainly empathize.

On January 10, 2014, a federal circuit court of appeals found that Apple did not infringe on one of Motorola’s patents: US 6272333 B1, a method of delivering, utilizing, and updating information in cell phone networks. Simply put, Motorola’s argument is that Apple’s cell phone devices infringes upon Motorola’s patents because of Apple’s method in software updating (i.e. Apple’s applications can be updated through deleting certain “push-enabled apps” or cancelling “push notifications”). The federal circuit court of appeals not only affirmed the International Trade Commission’s (“ITC”) finding that Apple did not infringe on Motorola’s patent, the circuit court also sustained the ITC’s decision that Motorola failed to present enough evidence to meet a legal threshold. Mainly, Motorola failed to show that Motorola, or one of Motorola’s licensees, was actually using one claim of the asserted patent.

Most business owners and members of the public expect patents to cover inventions. This isn’t necessarily so, as demonstrated above. Patents protect methods by which something is done or created. Patents can also protect the design of an invention. If you would like to discuss the differences of each type of patent and how patent registrations can protect your intellectual property, give us a call today!

Filed under: Patents by Yau Jo-Anne Tuesday, January 14th, 2014