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Apple faces an import ban in the US on certain models of its iPhone 4 and iPad 2, as well as older devices, after a federal agency found that they infringed Samsung’s patents.
The ruling by the US International Trade Commission on Tuesday reverses an earlier decision by the agency last year and marks Samsung’s first major win against Apple in America in their wide-ranging legal disputes over smartphone and tablet designs.
The ITC said its ruling was “final” and that it had terminated its investigation, but Apple could appeal against the decision to a higher authority.
Apple said it was “disappointed” that the commission had overturned its earlier ruling and that it planned to appeal. Any bans ordered by the ITC are subject to a 60-day window, during which they are reviewed by the US president before they come into effect.
If Barack Obama does not review the ban, Apple may appeal to the Federal Circuit and ask for an immediate stay.
The devices caught by the import ban are the AT&T variants of the iPhone 4, 3GS and 3G, as well as the original iPad and iPad 2 which run on the second-largest American mobile network. They are assembled in China.
Its latest devices, including the iPhone 5, are not affected but Apple said in its most recent earnings call that sales of its now-discounted iPhone remained surprisingly strong.
Samsung accused Apple of infringing four of its patents around the fundamental technologies of wireless devices, known as standards-essential patents. Technology companies are required to license these patents on fair and reasonable terms.
Although the ITC said that Samsung did not prove a violation of three of those patents, it overturned an administrative district judge’s ruling last autumn to find against Apple in the fourth, despite the iPhone maker attempting to show the patent was invalid.
The patent at issue involves the UMTS technology that is used by AT&T’s 3G network. AT&T was the sole network operator for iPads and iPhones in the US until February 2011, when Verizon – which uses a different kind of 3G technology that is not caught by this ruling – started offering the device.
In coming to its decision that the only “appropriate remedy” was to ban imports of the infringing devices to the US, the ITC heard evidence from many IT and mobile companies, including Google’s Motorola Mobility, Ericsson, Hewlett-Packard, Qualcomm and BlackBerry – some of whom have also clashed with Apple in the courts.
"This is a big psychological win for Samsung, just like last summer’s $1bn verdict that Apple obtained against Samsung was for Apple. It puts President Obama’s statement on trolls today to the test"
- Law professor Michael Carrier
Last summer, Apple was awarded $1bn in damages against Samsung by a Californian jury after it found the maker of the Galaxy family of devices infringed its patents. Almost half of that sum has since been vacated and a new trial ordered to determine the final damages.
Samsung said after the ruling: “We believe the ITC’s Final Determination has confirmed Apple’s history of free-riding on Samsung’s technological innovations. Our decades of research and development in mobile technologies will continue, and we will continue to offer innovative products to consumers in the US.”
Apple said: “Today’s decision has no impact on the availability of Apple products in the US.
“Samsung is using a strategy which has been rejected by courts and regulators around the world. They’ve admitted that it’s against the interests of consumers in Europe and elsewhere, yet here in the US Samsung continues to try to block the sale of Apple products by using patents they agreed to license to anyone for a reasonable fee.”
Michael Carrier, professor at Rutgers School of Law, Camden, New Jersey, said: “This is a big psychological win for Samsung, just like last summer’s $1bn verdict that Apple obtained against Samsung was for Apple.
“It puts President Obama’s statement on trolls today to the test, as the ITC grants an exclusion order, while the courts would not.”
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