ITC bans several Samsung devices, President Obama has 60 days to review
The ongoing legal drama between Apple and Samsung continues, even long after Apple’s billion dollar win last year. The latest development comes from the ITC which has issued a limited exclusion order on a handful of Samsung products. This was a follow up to an ITC judge’s ruling back in 2012, who found Samsung guilty of violating Apple’s design and technology patents. After the ITC’s latest review, the design patents were dropped, but Samsung still found guilty of violating 2 patents: 7,479,949 relating to scrolling technology, and 7,912,501, dealing with the audio/microphone jack. However, newer Samsung devices with workarounds to the above listed patents are off the hook (for now).
Unfortunately for older devices like the Samsung Galaxy S2, Samsung Continuum, and a couple of Galaxy Tabs (all devices from 2010/2011), they now have 60 days before the ban goes into effect, during which time the President Obama will review the case and either veto the ban or let it skate on by. You may remember a similar case in which Obama overturned an ITC ruling banning AT&T compatible iPhones and iPads, but those were essential patents, where as the latest offense deals with non-essential ones, so it’s not looking so good for Samsung. And no, our resident iPhan, Kevin Krause, did not contribute to this article. ;)
[US International Trade Commission | via Engadget]