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发帖数: 16209 | 1 A judge should find that Nokia Corp. didn't infringe on Apple Inc. patents,
staff at the International Trade Commission said.
The "evidence will not establish a violation" of any Apple patents in the
case, the ITC investigative staff said Monday in a pre-hearing statement,
but the judge doesn't have to follow the staff's recommendation.
Apple is seeking to ban imports of the devices from the world's largest
mobile phone maker, including products that use the Symbian and S40
operating systems.
The trial against Nokia, which began Monday, is one of many skirmishes in
the fiercely competitive smartphone industry. Along with its accusations
against Nokia, Apple is sparring with Motorola Inc. and Taiwan's HTC Corp.,
makers of phones based on Google Inc.'s Android platform. And Microsoft Corp
. sued Motorola last month, accusing it of violating Microsoft's patents in
smartphones using Android.
The recent battles in the mobile market started in October 2009, when Nokia
accused Apple of violating 10 patents with its iPhone. The Finnish cellphone
giant, which earns royalty revenue from other cellphone makers, later
followed up with claims against Apple's iPad.
Apple has countersued, accusing Nokia of infringing some of its patents,
violating antitrust laws and breach of contract. Both companies deny the
other's infringement allegations.
The ITC staff said on Monday that some of the Apple patents were invalid and
others weren't infringed. But the statement said that if a judge determines
Nokia violated patents, he should ban some Nokia phones from being imported
into the U.S.
The judge's ruling is expected in February, and Nokia's suit against Apple
is scheduled for trial beginning Nov. 29. Nokia declined to comment while
Apple wasn't immediately available.
"Definitely, when you're in a case, it's better to have the staff on your
side," said Eric Schweibenz, a partner at Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier &
Neustadt specializing in patent litigation. That said, determinations by
ITC judges often go in other directions, he said.
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