Ever since the news first broke that Google were to buy Motorola Mobility it was clear that Google had the most interest in the company’s vast patent portfolio, concerning mobile. Now, it seems that Google is finally looking to put these patents to good use after the company’s completion of the deal weeks ago.
Google are said to have filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission seeking an import ban of iPads and iPhones due to a patent infringement related to 3G. As of right now, there’s no specific info on exactly which patent no. is in question but, what is confirmed – and fairly obvious – is that this was one of Motorola Mobility’s patents.
The report comes from 9to5Google after observing a number of tweets of a financial analyst on Twitter that goes by @zerohedge informing all of the news. The tweet that gave the most info was that “GOOGLE CLAIMS APPLE INFRINGES PATENT RELATED TO 3G TECHNOLOGY”.
The ITC themselves have now responded that “The U.S. International Trade Commission said it will review ITC Judge Thomas Pender’s findings that Apple was violating one of four Motorola Mobility patents. The commission is scheduled to issue a final decision on Aug. 24, and has the power to block devices made in Asia from entering the U.S.”
The commission will have to review Judge Pender’s findings that Apple infringed on an industry standard patent owned by Motorola Mobility relating to 3G technology back in Apple. The final decision is set for August 24th and could result in the ban of iPads and iPhones being imported into the US, as the ITC holds the power to ban products produced in Asia.
I’m sure some may call me out on this but, it’s good to finally see Google going after Apple in this manner. Not a lot comes of dealings with the ITC – aside from last month’s ban on HTC’s EVO 4G LTE and AT&T’s One X – and is tantamount to Apple slinging mud at its competitors. It’s clear that the relationship between the two companies has gone from rocky to genuinely sour in the last couple of years, with Apple competing with Google with iCloud and now, finally removing Google maps from iOS. Personally, I hope that the ITC look into this properly and a decision is reached in Google’s favor, it’s time that Apple be stopped from stifling innovation.