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ITC to review decision that cleared Apple of infringing Samsung patents

The U.S. International Trade Commission announced on Monday that it will revisit a September decision which found Apple's products to not violate certain Samsung patents, with a final judgment that could lead to an injunction against the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

As noted by Reuters, the ITC is set to review a preliminary decision made by Administrative Law Judge James Gildea that found Apple's iDevice lineup to not infringe on Samsung's wireless patents. The final determination, to be made by the full commission, may overturn the judge's findings, possibly leading to a ban of U.S. sales.

The case apparently warrants a more detailed investigation as the ITC had the option to uphold Judge Gildea's preliminary decision.

Samsung first filed for a ban of Apple's allegedly infringing products in June 2011, claiming "many" of its innovations were being copied by the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. It was revealed that the intellectual property under review dealt with patents for certain wireless technologies.

Most recently, Apple won a favorable ruling in another ITC case when Judge Thomas Pender found Samsung to have infringed on three of six asserted utility patents and one design property, including IP for touchscreen heuristics co-invented by the late Steve Jobs. That complaint was first filed in July 2011 as a countersuit to the Samsung's original ITC complaint.

The full commission is scheduled to both review the Samsung complaint and issue a ruling on whether it will revisit Judge Pender's decision in January.