Last week we witnessed the almost unprecedented veto intervention [6] in the Apple-Samsung patent debate. Last night, after the market had closed, the hits kept coming for the South Korean company as the Cupertino crushed showed the ITC that Samsung's infringements should mean a sales and import ban in the US. As Reuters reports [7], the decision is likely to inflame passions in the long-running dispute since the decision will now - once again - go to President Barack Obama, who has 60 days to review them and decide whether to side with the American company that 'donated' $16.5mm to his campaign or the South Korean market-share 'stealer' that only gave $3.7 million in offerings at the altar of hope-and-change. While some are calling foul so soon after the veto, with South Korean government officials 'observing' closely, even the US Trade Representative is against the proposed Samsung ban, citing "competitive conditions and the effect on the US consumer."
Hhhmm, we wonder who Obama will pick in this 'tricky' debate?
[8]
Via Reuters, [7]
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The U.S. 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 touchscreens.
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.
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But 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.
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman vetoed the ban on Saturday, cited its "effect on competitive conditions in the U.S. economy and the effect on U.S. 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 favoritism toward Cupertino, California's Apple.
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"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.
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The current case has dragged on for two years.