Apple suffered a setback today in its legal battle against Android. The US International Trade Commission ruled that Motorola’s smartphones do not infringe on three Apple patents cited in a complaint that was picked up by the ITC in November 2011. This is a preliminary ruling and subject to approval by the full six-person commission. Apple declined to comment on the ruling, while Motorola said it was pleased.
This case is one of many involving Apple and other technology companies. The Cupertino company is actively pursuing lawsuits against HTC, Motorola and Samsung. It, likewise, is being counter sued by the same Android handset makers. It’s a tangled web of complaints that’ll continue to make their way through the legal system in 2012.
[CNET; image from Shutterstock]