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Already a year ago, Apple won a major lawsuit against Samsung due to patent infringement. Apple today asked a court to allow a ban on imports of some Samsung devices. The US International Trade Commission has now recognized that some older Samsung phones infringe two of Apple's patents and banned their importation and sale in the United States. This regulation will enter into force in two months and, as in case from last week, when Apple was on the other side of the ban decision, President Obama can veto it.

Samsung was alleged to have infringed two patents related to touchscreen heuristics and connection detection capabilities. Originally, the game had multiple infringed patents related to the appearance or ability to display transparent images, but Samsung did not infringe those patents, according to the Trade Commission. The devices affected by the ban are mostly over three years old (Galaxy S 4G, Continuum, Captivate, Fascinate) and Samsung no longer sells them, so the decision will only minimally harm the Korean company (if it is not vetoed) and the meaning is thus rather symbolic. The decision of the International Trade Commission is final and cannot be appealed. Samsung commented on the whole situation:

“We are disappointed that the US International Trade Commission has issued an injunction based on two Apple patents. However, Apple can no longer try to use its general design patents to achieve a monopoly on rectangles and rounded corners. The smartphone industry should not be properly focused on an international war in the courts, but on fair competition in the market. Samsung will continue to release many innovative products and we have already taken steps to ensure that all of our products are available in the United States.”

The whole situation is somewhat reminiscent of the recent ban on the sale of older iPhones and iPads due to infringing patents related to mobile communication chips, which President Barack Obama vetoed. However, the case is different. Apple violated FRAND patents (freely licensable) because Samsung offered to license them only on the condition that Apple also license some of its proprietary patents. When Apple refused, Samsung sought an outright sales ban instead of collecting royalties. Here the President's veto was in place. In this case, however, Samsung violated patents that do not fall under FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory terms) and that Apple does not offer for licensing.

Source: TechCrunch.com

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