The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on Wednesday announced that it will delay final judgment of assertions that Apple infringed on certain FRAND patents owned by Samsung when it made the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, reports “Reuters” (http://tinyurl.com/c8pra2j).
In September an ITC administrative law judge said in a preliminary ruling in September that Apple didn’t infringe the patents. The full ITC said it would review the matter. If the full ITC reversed its internal judge and found Apple guilty of infringement, the ITC could order its products banned from the U.S. market.
The ITC now says it will issue a decision on May 31. And it’s requested filings on questions related to the effect of banning the Apple products on the public interest and whether there were acceptable substitutes for the Apple products if they were to be banned.
This is all part of the ongoing, global legal battle. Apple and Samsung have filed more than 30 lawsuits against each other across four continents. For example, Apple alleges that Samsung copied the slide-to-unlock technology of its iPhone and iPad devices.