Apple has requested the U.S. International Trade Commission for a stay order on the ban of older iPhone and iPad sales while a court reviews its appeal.
Apple Inc. and Samsung have been going head to head in the mobile market place and have been fighting legal patent issues in various countries. This latest ban on its products (pending a review) from the International Trade Commission will come as a huge disappointment to the company.
The ban will come into effect August 5, following a 60-day presidential review. But if President Obama does not veto the order, then Apple will lose sales of its earlier models of iPhone and iPads. The affected models in the ban include iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3, iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G. The ITC also issued a cease-and-desist order, which forbids the company from selling any inventory products of the iPhones and iPads that are already imported in the U.S. after the order takes effect.
The ITC, a federal agency with the power to enforce bans on products shipping to the U.S., ruled that Apple infringed on Samsung patent related to encoding technology. Samsung initially filed the case against Apple in 2011, two months after Apple sued the South Korean Company giving rise to the legal-battle between the two tech giants.
Apple argues in its filing, cited by GigaOm, that Samsung's listing of its encoding technology as standard-essential makes it reasonable for others "to practice its claimed invention." Apple also notes that the ban will severely impact their carrier partners, names of which are blacked out in the filing, but GigaOm cites them as AT&T and T-Mobile.
If the ban is imposed, Apple will lose a huge chunk of its products and also an "opportunity to gain new smartphone and tablet customers who otherwise would have purchased these entry- level Apple devices."
If the ITC grants a stay on the order and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is affirmative on the appeal then Samsung can seek FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) royalties. Apple says that Samsung is demanding too much for its license but Samsung claims it has placed a fair price before Apple.
