Apple Inc. faces a ban on imports of some older devices including the iPhone 4 after a U.S. trade agency said they infringed a patent owned by Samsung Electronics Co., its biggest competitor in the global smartphone market.

It is the first patent ruling against Apple in the U.S. that affects product sales. The order covers the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 3G sold for use on networks operated by AT&T Inc., T-Mobile U.S. Inc. and two regional carriers, General Communication Inc. in Alaska and CT Cube LP in Texas.

The U.S. International Trade Commission’s decision, in a notice posted on its website on Tuesday, is subject to review by President Barack Obama, who can overturn the import ban on public-policy grounds, which rarely happens.

Apple plans to appeal, saying it is disappointed with the commission’s overturning of its earlier ruling. But Apple stressed that the ITC‘s decision has no impact on the availability of Apple products in the United States.

Officials from Samsung, the world‘s largest smartphone maker, refused to comment on the ruling. The company released only a brief statement saying, “The 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.”

Some experts in Korea raised the possibility that Samsung will likely launch similar patent attacks at Apple’s newer products including iPhone 5 and iPad 4.

In June 2011, Samsung Electronics filed a complaint with the U.S. government agency, claiming Apple products infringed on four of its technology patents, including those on data transmission and dialing method.

Even if the decision is finalized with U.S. presidential approval, it is likely to have a limited impact on Apple since Samsung‘s complaints do not address the latest products such as the iPhone 5 and the iPad mini.

The ruling marks the latest development in the patent row between Samsung Electronics and Apple, the world’s two biggest smartphone makers that have been fighting to protect their stakes in the lucrative smartphone sector.

In March of this year, the South Korean smartphone maker scored a victory on Apple‘s home turf as U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh scaled back a previous penalty order worth $1.05 billion.

Koh ordered Samsung Electronics to pay Apple $598.9 million, roughly $450 million less than the initial decision, citing calculation errors in a U.S. jury’s decision.

Meanwhile, the ITC is set to issue a final ruling on Apple‘s complaints against Samsung Electronics in August.



From news reports