Apple patent wins could mean US import ban for Samsung

Wednesday, 14 August 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

REUTERS: Some older Samsung Electronics Co. mobile devices face a sales and import ban in the United States after a US trade panel ruled for Apple Inc. in a high-profile patent infringement case. The US International Trade Commission on Friday ruled that South Korea’s Samsung infringes on portions of two Apple Inc patents on digital mobile devices, covering the detection of headphone jacks and operation of touch screens. The decision is likely to inflame passions in the long-running dispute and could spark a rebuke from South Korea. The panel moved to prohibit Samsung from importing, selling and distributing devices in the United States that infringe on certain claims on the

patents. It is unclear how many Samsung phones and devices would be subject to the ban. All exclusion orders are sent to President Barack Obama, who has 60 days to review them. If he does not veto the order, it will go into effect. Apple was ebullient. “The ITC has joined courts around the world in Japan, Korea, Germany, Netherlands and California by standing up for innovation and rejecting Samsung’s blatant copying of Apple’s products,” said company spokeswoman Kristin Huguet. The ruling was the latest in a patent battle between Apple and Samsung that has spread across several countries as the companies vie for market share in the lucrative mobile industry. Samsung and Apple are the Nos. 1 and 2 smartphone makers. However it comes less than a week after the Obama administration overturned an ITC decision from June that would have banned the sales of some older-model Apple iPhones and iPads in the United States for violating Samsung patents. US Trade Representative Michael Froman vetoed the ban on Saturday, cited its “effect on competitive conditions in the US economy and the effect on US consumers.” That move, the first veto of an ITC ruling in decades, triggered concerns in the South Korean government and led to closer scrutiny of Friday’s ruling than usual. Letting the ban on Samsung devices stand after having so recently intervened in the Apple case could spur allegations the administration is showing favouritism toward Cupertino, California’s Apple. But a key difference between the cases is that the patents Apple was said to have infringed were so-called standard essential patents, which cover technology that must be used to comply with industry standards. The patents in the latest case are considered commercial and non-essential. Four other patent infringements asserted by Apple were turned down on Friday by the ITC panel, which declared its investigation closed. “We are disappointed that the ITC has issued an exclusion order based on two of Apple’s patents. However, Apple has been stopped from trying to use its overbroad design patents to achieve a monopoly on rectangles and rounded corners,” Adam Yates, a Samsung spokesman, said in a statement.