iPhone 4 set to be banned in the US
Samsung scored a victory over Apple in their long-running dispute over mobile patents after a US trade agency issued an order banning older Apple products from the US market.

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) slapped a ban on the import or sale of the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G distributed by AT&T, ruling that the products infringed on a Samsung data transmission patent. Newer models don't use the technology covered by Samsung's claim, first filed in 2011.

US president Barack Obama has 60 days to review the ruling. If he does not veto the order, it will go into effect.

It is not immediately clear what the impact could be on Apple or AT&T should Obama let the ruling stand, since the decision remains subject to a potentially prolonged appeals process.

While the products targeted are more than a year old, some models such as the iPhone 4 remain solid sellers.

The most recent version covered by the ITC's decision - the iPhone 4 - is now given away with a contract offered by carriers including Verizon, which is not affected by the ruling. The iPhone 4 could be phased out within a year should Apple stick to schedule and release a new version of the iPhone this autumn, as many expect.

Still, if the import ban goes into effect, US customs agencies enforcing the ban could well end up delaying other Apple products, said Susan Kohn Ross, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp.

"This is going to create a huge distortion for Apple," she said. "Customs has a very difficult job now. They have to look at every shipment."

The iPhone accounts for about half of Apple's revenue. While the company doesn't disclose sales data on individual smartphones and tablet models, the most current version of the iPhone typically accounts for the biggest chunk of iPhone shipments of more than 100 million units annually.

Apple has waged an international patent war since 2010 as it seeks to limit the growth of Google's Android, the world's most-used mobile software today. That fight has embroiled Samsung, HTC and other Android manufacturers.

Tuesday's ruling overturned a decision by a previous ITC judge, who ruled in September that Apple didn't violate the patents at issue in the case.

Samsung, which is battling Apple in court in some 10 countries, had also accused Apple of infringing on three other patents, but the ITC found that Apple didn't infringe those.

"We are disappointed that the commission has overturned an earlier ruling and we plan to appeal. Today's decision has no impact on the availability of Apple products in the United States," said an Apple spokesperson.

Samsung said the ITC decision "confirmed Apple's history of free-riding on Samsung's technological innovations".

The Obama administration has been pressing for infringement of "standard essential patents" to mostly be punished by monetary charges, not sales bans.

It reiterated that stand on Tuesday with a White House statement that - among other steps - urged the ITC to raise its bar for order sales bans so that it matches district courts.

Designed to be a trade panel, the ITC has become a popular venue for patent lawsuits because it acts relatively quickly and it can order import bans, which are more difficult to get from district courts.

While the ITC was created to ensure that US companies got a fair shake competing against imports, a fair number of non-US companies have filed for relief at the agency based on the fact that they have US manufacturing plants or do research in this country.

Samsung has a manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas.

"I can't really point to any time that the foreign complainants or respondents got anything but a justice-is-blind fair shake," said one patent expert, speaking privately.

ITC cases can be appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and from there go to the Supreme Court.

Apple has a parallel complaint filed against Samsung at the ITC, accusing Samsung of blatantly copying its iPhones and iPads. An ITC judge in that case found that Samsung had violated one patent but not a second one. A final decision is due in August.

US president Barack Obama has 60 days to review the ruling. If he does not veto the order, it will go into effect.

Not really a problem as they are both about to be superseded by newer compliant models to be announced at WWDC.

There will be another very soon. I am still locked into my contract for another year or so can only watch and feel resentment towards you and your new iPhone 5s or 6.

Well I'm using an iPhone4, so whatever the next one is (if I decide to go for that one) it'll be a significant step up in terms of pretty much every aspect of it, so yeah, you keep your resentement jealous-boy (8+p

Mark

Well I'm using a 3GS!

Of course he'll veto it, they're an American company.