Apple iPad and iPhone, two of the items barred from sale
Apple has been hit by a major sales ban in the US, with the Cupertino company barred from importing the iPhone 4 and older iPad ranges to the US.
Having been deemed to have infringed on a Samsung held data transmission patent, Apple has been handed an import and sales ban by the US International Trade Commission. Not affecting the company’s current flagship product lines, including the iPhone 5, iPad mini and iPad 4, the ban has come following a legal complaint lodged by Samsung back in 2011.
Affecting devices modelled to run on America’s AT&T network, the Apple sales ban will not be brought into place until the ITC’s decision has been approved by the White House and President Obama himself. This process could take up to 60 days.
Stating that it is “disappointed that the commission has overturned an earlier ruling,” Apple has confirmed that it plans to appeal the ITC imposed ban. An official statement for the company added: “Today's decision has no impact on the availability of Apple products in the United States,” the company added.
As well as the iPhone 4, the court ruling has stated that Apple cannot sell the iPhone 3GS in the States. The 3G rendition of the original iPad and the iPad 2 3G are also set to be stripped from retailer’s shelves. The ruling comes as the latest twist in a long and bitter court duelling between the two tech giants.
“Samsung is using a strategy which has been rejected by the courts and regulators around the world,” Apple spokesperson Kristin Huguet reportedly told AllThingsD.
She added: “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.”
Read more on the heated rivalry between Apple and Samsung in our iPhone 5 vs Samsung Galaxy S4 head-to-head.
