ITC Ruling in Samsung and Apple dispute
The decision could mean that some older models of the iPad and iPhone are banned from sale in the US. Apple has said that it will appeal the decision.
The ITC is a trade panel which has become an increasingly popular venue for patent lawsuits as it has the ability to order import bans which are often more difficult to secure from US district courts. All import bans issued are sent to the President, who has 60 days to review them. If the ban is not overturned during this time it goes into effect.
Samsung had also accused Apple of infringing three other patents however the ITC found that Apple did not infringe these.
Apple also has a complaint filed against Samsung at the ITC accusing Samsung of copying its iPhones and iPads. An ITC judge in that case found that Samsung had violated one patent but not a second one. A final decision is due in August.
It will be interesting to see whether the import ban imposed by the ITC is overturned by Barack Obama in the next 60 days. If not it will mean that there is a ban on all imports and sales for AT&T models of the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G in the US.
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