Apple’s Legal Wins Show No Clear Victor in Patent War

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Apple Inc. scored three legal victories in a week that still leaves unclear whether the iPhone maker will be the victor in global patent battles over technology that’s transformed everyday lives.

A U.S. trade agency on Aug. 9 issued an import ban that prevents Apple’s chief competitor, Samsung Electronics Co., from selling devices in the U.S. that infringe two Apple patents. A week earlier, President Barack Obama’s administration overturned a similar ban won by Samsung against some of Apple’s older iPhone 4s. In between, a U.S. appeals court revived Apple’s patent case against Google Inc.’s Motorola Mobility.