Motorola Mobility announced today that it has received a ruling from the US International Trade Commission relating to its patent infringement case with Apple. Apple initiated this case against MMI back in October 2010. While the details of the actual decision are not yet publicly available through the ITC website, MMI indicates that the administrative law judge at the ITC held that it didn't infringe any of the three patents Apple had asserted against the mobile devices in the case.

MMI is understandably pleased with the ruling and issued the following statement:

We are pleased with today's favorable outcome for Motorola Mobility. Motorola Mobility has worked hard over the years to develop technology and build an industry-leading intellectual property portfolio. We are proud to leverage this broad and deep portfolio to create differentiated innovations that enhance the user experience.

This could be a big win for MMI, allowing it to avoid a potentially crippling injunction like the one that awaits HTC as a result of its loss to Apple at the ITC just a few weeks back. However, unlike the HTC matter, this particular ITC decision is preliminary. There are still avenues remaining at the ITC for Apple to challenge the ruling. It's not uncommon for these initial holdings to get tweaked or even completely revamped by the time they come out as a final ITC decision. We'll keep an eye out for updates on the details of the ruling and keep you apprised of developments.