Apple has been hit by a major sales ban in the US, with the Cupertino company barred from importing the iPhone 4 and older iPad ranges to the US.
Having been deemed to have infringed on a Samsung held data transmission patent, Apple has been handed an import and sales ban by the US International Trade Commission. Not affecting the company’s current flagship product lines, including the iPhone 5, iPad mini and iPad 4, the ban has come following a legal complaint lodged by Samsung back in 2011.
Affecting devices modelled to run on America’s AT&T network,
Stating that it is “disappointed that the commission has overturned an earlier ruling,” Apple has confirmed that it plans to appeal the ITC imposed ban. An official statement for the company added: “Today’s decision has no impact on the availability of Apple products in the United States,” the company added.
As well as the iPhone 4, the court ruling has stated that Apple cannot sell the iPhone 3GS in the States. The 3G rendition of the original iPad and the iPad 2 3G are also set to be stripped from retailer’s shelves. The ruling comes as the latest twist in a long and bitter court duelling between the two tech giants.
“Samsung is using a strategy which has been rejected by the courts and regulators around the world,” Apple spokesperson Kristin Huguet reportedly told AllThingsD.
She added: “They’ve admitted that it’s against the interests of consumers in Europe and elsewhere, yet here in the United States Samsung continues to try to block the sale of Apple products by using patents they agreed to license to anyone for a reasonable fee.”
Read more on the heated rivalry between Apple and Samsung in our iPhone 5 vs Samsung Galaxy S4 head-to-head.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
