Obama Administration Vetoes Partial Ban on Apple ProductsThe Obama administration has vetoed a partial ban on the import and sale of some Apple products which was granted back in June in response to a ruling made by the USITC (United States International Trade Commission). The ban, which applied to AT&T models of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS, and the 3G models of the iPad and the iPad 2, was granted after the USITC found that the aforementioned products infringed on a Samsung patent, specifically Patent No. 7,706,348, titled "Apparatus and method for encoding/decoding transport format combination indicator in CDMA mobile communication system." Today, in a letter to Irving A. Williamson, the Chairman of the USITC, the United States Trade Representative Michael B. G. Froman declared the following: After extensive consultations with the agencies of the Trade Policy Staff Committee and the Trade Policy Review Group [...] I have decided to disapprove the USITC’s determination to issue an exclusion order and cease and desist order in this investigation.The letter further went on to note that the Obama administration was "committed to promoting innovation and economic progress, including through providing adequate and effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights". The Verge has noted that this is the first time since 1987 that the President of the United States has interfered with a decision from the ITC. This comes after the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) recently criticised this sort of use of sales bans (rather than monetary compensation) as a means of executing patent infringement – as it in effect harms rival products and companies and does not promote a competitive trading environment. CNet had previously cited experts who believed it was unlikely for the administration to step in on this case. Just last week, Verizon attorney Randal Milch published an open letter calling for presidential intervention in this case to veto the ban. The ban would have otherwise gone into effect on August 5th, 2013. Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the comment thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All MacRumors forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts. Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories • 'Catch Notes' to Suspend Service on August 30 • FileMaker Reportedly Lays Off 20 Employees Following Announcement of Bento Discontinuation • Infinity Blade 3 Rumored to Be in the Works • Upcoming Shooter 'Neon Shadow' Uses Split Screen for Single iPad Multiplayer • Alleged iPhone 5S Parts Surface Once Again, Still No Sign of Fingerprint Scanner • Another Study Shows Non-iOS Tablets Surpassing iPad in Global Market Share • BioShock Infinite Coming to Mac on August 29th • Best Buy Offering Free Apple TV with 15-Inch Retina MacBook Pro Purchase
http://www.macrumors.com/2013/08/03/obama-administration-vetoes-partial-ban-on-apple-products/
