Judge Rules in Apple's Favor in Patent Lawsuit Filed by Nokia

Reuters reports that the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has issued a decision in the patent dispute between Apple and Nokia, ruling that Apple has not violated any of five patents cited by Nokia in its lawsuit.

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) won a round in its patent battle with Nokia (NOK1V.HE) on Friday as a U.S. trade panel ruled that the U.S. company did not violate any of five Nokia patents.

The patents were for electronic devices, including mobile phones, portable music players and computers.

Nokia initially filed suit against Apple in October 2009, and the two companies have escalated the situation by filing countersuits and new suits citing an increasing number of patents and in a number of jurisdictions. Most recently, Nokia filed four new suits targeting Apple in European courts.

ITC staff have already issued a preliminary position siding with Nokia regarding Apple's countersuit claiming patent infringement, but an agency judge has yet to issue an official ruling on that case.