Skip to main content

Full ITC panel clears Apple of infringing on S3 patents

Image used with permission by copyright holder

In a victory for Apple Inc., a full review panel at the U.S. International Trade Commission has ruled (PDF) that Apple doesn’t violate any patents from S3 Graphics in either its iOS products or Macintosh computers. The ruling supersedes a preliminary finding last summer from a judge that cleared Apple of infringing on S3 patents in iOS products, but found Apple violated two S3 Graphics patents in Mac OS X. The new ruling from the full panel wipes the slate clean, clearing Apple of all infringement claims.

S3 has asked that Apple products violating its patents be banned from importation into the United States, a move which—if it had worked out—would have wreaked havoc on Apple’s core businesses.

The case is a skirmish in the larger battles over intellectual property in the mobile technology world. S3 Graphics is now owned by HTC, which bought the company and its patent portfolio back in July for $300 million largely to shore up its patent position in ongoing litigation with Apple: the companies have sued and countersued each other over alleged patent violations, with Apple’s suit against HTC being widely viewed as a proxy attack in lieu of suing Google directly over Android. Apple is also engages in high-profile litigation with Samsung over its Android devices, although many of the issues with Samsung actually center on the design of the devices themselves.

So far, Apple is generally coming out ahead against both HTC and Samsung: Apple has forced Samsung to withdraw its products from many markets and redesign them, and now HTC has lost its patent infringement claims against Apple based on intellectual property acquired from S3. The ITC is set to rule on a separate infringement claim between HTC and Apple in December; in that instance, the preliminary ruling was that HTC had violated two Apple patents.

Editors' Recommendations

Geoff Duncan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
Forget Apple’s newest iPad — the Galaxy Tab S8 should be your next tablet
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 alongside the tenth-gen iPad.

For a while now, the tablet industry has been rather boring. That's not due to the lack of compelling devices, but because of lopsided competition. Apple’s iPads have reigned supreme, and with the arrival of iPadOS, Apple made it clear that it was serious at playing the tablet game.

The dominance has been particularly evident at the entry level, where the $329 iPad has been the default choice for an affordable, reliable tablet. That’s not the case anymore in 2022. The "entry-level" 10th-gen iPad now starts at $449. It looks fresh, offers USB-C nirvana, and comes with a new Magic Keyboard to sell its computing chops.

Read more
Apple settles class-action lawsuit over iPhone 4S throttling
daily app deals ios 03 17 2016 iphone 4s owners sue apple

Apple has reached a settlement on a class-action lawsuit filed in December 2015 over claims its iOS 9 update throttled the performance of the iPhone 4S. According to MacRumors, the company is willing to pay $15 to each iPhone 4S owner for their poor performance claims.

The lawsuit was filed by Chaim Lerman and 100 other customers from New York and New Jersey who accused Apple of planned obsolescence of the iPhone 4S by knowingly slowing it down following the iOS 9 update. The plaintiffs claimed the company misrepresented the iOS 9 update as being compatible with the iPhone 4S (which came out in 2011) on its website, promising to bring faster performance to the device along with the newer models at the time. Instead, they said the update throttled all the apps, including the Phone app, and rendered their iPhone 4S devices completely useless.

Read more
Mophie’s 3-in-1 MagSafe charger is ideal for Apple travelers
Mophie 3-in-1 MagSafe travel charger with AirPod Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, and Apple Watch Series 5 charging on top.

Wireless charging has become the most popular way for most folks to power up their smartphones, and the Qi wireless charging standard guarantees you’ll be able to charge up from just about any wireless charger you happen upon.

Unfortunately, if you want the best charging experience and speeds possible, things can get a bit complicated. For folks using Apple’s latest iPhone models, that means getting an Apple-certified MagSafe charger.

Read more