US Appeals Court Issues Mixed Ruling Reviving Apple Patent Claims Against Motorola Mobility

A federal appeals court revived Apple's legal claims that handset maker Motorola Mobility copied its iPhone patents, but the ruling could weaken a separate case Apple is pressing against Samsung Electronics.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that an influential Chicago-based federal judge made multiple legal errors when he dismissed competing patent-infringement claims by Apple and Motorola in 2012. The court said Judge Richard Posner wrongly excluded expert testimony in a case where Apple and Motorola were each pressing claims the other owed monetary damages for infringement.

The ruling means that Apple will have a new chance to argue Motorola infringed its patents. In the latest case, Apple is seeking $2.2 billion from Samsung for infringing five patents. Samsung has countered by saying that Apple infringed two of its patents and is seeking $7 million.