By Kim Yoo-chul
Samsung Electronics scored a major victory in its patent dispute with Apple after a U.S. trade agency ruled that the iPhone maker infringed on Samsung patents.
In its final ruling announced Tuesday, the International Trade Commission (ITC) banned Apple from supplying the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3 as well as the iPad and iPad 2 to U.S. carriers.
“This is the first patent ruling against Apple in the U.S. that affects product sales, covering models of the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3, iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G made for AT&T,” the ITC said in the ruling statement.
The panel issued a limited import ban and a cease-and-desist recommendation for AT&T models of those products.
It will be sent to President Barack Obama, who has 60 days to make a decision to approve or reject it.
Samsung welcomed the decision. “Our patents were protected. We will do more to protect our intellectual property,” said its spokesman.
However, the ban is unlikely to deal a blow to Apple’s sales as it does not affect the newest generation of products like the fourth-generation iPad and the iPhone 5, which use different technology than the dated devices.
It remains to be seen whether the ITC will overturn its earlier decision that confirmed Samsung infringed on some Apple patents. It will make a final decision about the separate case on Aug. 1.
Last September, the ITC said in its preliminary ruling Samsung infringed on four Apple patents — numbered 922, 678, 949 and 501.
A patent attorney in Seoul claimed the latest ruling by the U.S. trade panel will give a boost for Samsung in the second patent battle that includes the latest flagship products including the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S4.
“Because the ITC favored Samsung’s standard essential patents or SEPs, Samsung will attack Apple in the next court by claiming that Apple infringed on Samsung’s SEPs in advanced long-term evolution (LTE) wireless technology,” said the attorney by telephone.
Wednesday’s decision didn’t include Apple’s latest products as the ITC believed these devices including the iPhone 4S contain Qualcomm-provided wireless technology.
“This is about patent exhaustion, meaning Samsung’s SEPs were only valid in older versions of Apple products. Ironically, U.S.-based chip giant Qualcomm is rising as a winner in this Samsung-Apple fight,” said Lee Seung-woo, an analyst at IBK Securities, a leading local brokerage.
Apple said it doesn’t have to pay Samsung for using its patents because Qualcomm already paid Samsung for using its 3G wireless technology patent.
Courts in Europe also ruled that Apple devices using Qualcomm technology didn’t infringe on Samsung patents.