Apple cleared of violating S3 patents

Apple did not infringe HTC patents, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) has said in a new ruling, The Telegraph reports.

The move reverses an earlier decision by an American judge and relates to a part of HTC called S3, which specialises in audio compression technology.

HTC purchased S3 in July; its shares fell 4.9% on the news after the ITC, which has the power to block the import of products, said it considered that its investigation was now closed, Independent.ie says.

S3 was among a number of companies still in dispute with Apple, and Google itself has sold a number of patents to HTC so that the mobile manufacturer can sue Apple over a range of ongoing issues. Samsung, which supplies chips for a range of Apple products, is also the subject of a number of Apple disputes.

S3 filed its complaint in May last year, accusing Apple of infringing four of its patents related to image rendering, PCWorld notes. In July, an administrative law judge issued an initial decision that sided with S3 on two of those patents.

Monday's decision overturned that finding, however.

"Having examined the record of this investigation, including the [administrative law judge's initial decision] and the submissions of the parties and non-parties, the Commission has determined to reverse the [administrative law judge's] finding of a violation of section 337 and find no violation," the ITC said.