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Apple Faces iPad Ban After Samsung Patent Defeat

Apple Faces iPad Ban After Samsung Patent Defeat
Michael Rundle
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Apple has lost a major court battle with its rival Samsung over patents relating to its iPhone and iPad products.

An American trade panel said that Apple had infringed on Samsung's patents on wireless technology.

The commission has now issued a cease and desist order to stop Apple importing products including the AT&T version of the iPhone 4, the 3GS and 3G, the iPad 3G, and the iPad 2 3G.

But while the decision at the US International Trade Commission may result in some older products receiving import bans in the US, it is unlikely there will be any immediate impact.

Several of the affected products are no longer on sale, and newer iPads and iPhones do not use the technology covered in the patents.

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Apple had argued that Samsung had agreed to license the patents for a fair price, and is expected to appeal against the decision.

It is also possible that a rare presidential order could reverse the import ban within 60 days.

The decision is just the latest skirmish in a wide-ranging series of patent battles in the tech world, particularly between Apple and Samsung which previously saw the South Korean company ordered to pay $598m in patent infringement costs.

The wider patent war has previously seen the ITC ban HTC's One X and Evo 4G LTE products after a lawsuit launched by Apple.

Apple issued a statement to All Things D which said they were disappointed with the decision:

"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.

Samsung is using a strategy which has been rejected by courts and regulators around the world. They've admitted that it's against the interests of consumers in Europe and elsewhere, yet here in the United States Samsung continues to try to block the sale of Apple products by using patents they agreed to license to anyone for a reasonable fee."

Samsung said that it was pleased to see the ITC take action:

"ITC's decision made it clear that Apple has made an unauthorized use of Samsung's patents. We will do our best to defend our intellectual property rights."

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