Neil Hughes
The White House on Tuesday declined to intervene and prevent a ban on the sale of certain Samsung products accused of infringing on Apple patents.
Samsung was hopeful that the Obama administration would act as it did for Apple in August, when the president stopped an International Trade Commission injunction that would have barred sales of the iPhone 4. However, the White House revealed on Tuesday that, as expected, it would not intervene, according to Bloomberg.
"After carefully weighing policy considerations, including the impact on consumers and competition, advice from agencies, and information from interested parties, I have decided to allow [the ban]," U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said in a statement.
The president's veto in Apple's case was made out of concerns regarding standards essential patents (SEPs) being used to gain "undue leverage." Samsung's infringing products are not accused of violating SEPs.
The import ban set to take affect will only apply to a limited number of Samsung products. Newer models from the South Korean company have worked around the Apple patents in question, related to multi-touch input and a sensor for detecting when a headphone jack is being used.
The ITC sided with Apple in an August ruling, in which the commission set the stage for certain Samsung products to be barred from sale. With the White House declining to intervene, the ITC import ban is set to take effect.
Froman had previously said that the administration's decision would be made on the merits of the case, not geopolitical interests.
AppleInsider Staff
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
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45 Comments
Copy THAT bitches!
Sounds like this is more important politically than for Apple or Samsung's bottom line. Some cheers from this side saying that justice prevails and some jeers from that side saying that the treatment is unfair. Personally I'm glad that this drama doesn't tip the sides too much.
Good call. The only reason to veto this would have been to offset the prior veto in Apple's favor. That veto basically a result of having to allow SEP patents to actually have some clout, which could have shifted the patent landscape.
Hopefully this is the end of it, but with SEP patents officially defanged, I wouldn't be surprised if companies like Samsung and Google try to file their 5g variants of wireless technology as proprietary technologies instead of including them as SEPs
[quote name="Frood" url="/t/159996/white-house-declines-to-stop-ban-on-samsung-products-in-apple-patent-case#post_2413084"]Good call. The only reason to veto this would have been to offset the prior veto in Apple's favor. That veto basically a result of having to allow SEP patents to actually have some clout, which could have shifted the patent landscape. Hopefully this is the end of it, but with SEP patents officially defanged, I wouldn't be surprised if companies like Samsung and Google try to file their 5g variants of wireless technology as proprietary technologies instead of including them as SEPs [/quote] That's not likely to happen. The carriers want SEPs - there's no way that a carrier can support a bunch of different proprietary technologies. Handset manufacturers want SEPs - they don't want to support a zillion proprietary technologies, either. As long as there's a technology available that will do the job where the IP owner is willing to make it SEP, that will be the choice. And some companies (Qualcomm, for example) like SEPs and have built their business model around them, so I don't see it changing.
Good call. The only reason to veto this would have been to offset the prior veto in Apple's favor. That veto basically a result of having to allow SEP patents to actually have some clout, which could have shifted the patent landscape.
Hopefully this is the end of it, but with SEP patents officially defanged, I wouldn't be surprised if companies like Samsung and Google try to file their 5g variants of wireless technology as proprietary technologies instead of including them as SEPs
Hardly. What's more likely is if multiple companies have 5G technology then the SSO's will pick IP from companies who don't have a pattern of SEP abuse (like Samsung).
I think Samsung shot themselves in the foot over their dispute with Apple. They were so eager to get a ban that they forgot how their actions might affect other areas of business later on.
I bet 5G will be comprised of IP from Cisco, Ericsson, Nokia and Qualcomm with little to no input from Samsung.