It feels like it's been a while since we've heard anything involving a patent suit between two tech companies, hasn't it? Well that ends today, as the U.S. International Trade Commission has handed down a preliminary ruling that says that Motorola is not infringing on a trio of patents held by Apple. The suit began back in October 2010 when Apple claimed that several Motorola-made devices — such as the DROID, DROID 2 and DROID X — infringed on some of the Cupertino firm's patents. Today's decision will now need to be reviewed by the ITC's full six-person commission.

The last time we saw the ITC hand down a decision on a patent battle between Apple and a major Android manufacturer, it was Apple that came out on top over HTC. However, HTC responded by saying that the issue revolved around a small UI element that could be easily removed to avoid having the ban against the offending devices enforced. We've yet to hear from either Apple or Motorola on today's ruling, but you can bet that we'll update you if the companies end up saying something.

Via Phone Scoop, CNET, ITC