Korean Company Samsung is set to be banned from selling several of their products in the USA as of tomorrow after US President Obama failed to veto a US International Trade Commission. He did veto a similar decision against US Company Apple earlier this year after the ITC also banned their products.
The decision means that from tomorrow, Samsung will not be allowed to sell several products including the Galaxy S 4G and the Galaxy Tab 10.1.
“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 import ban, Obama’s designee, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, said in a statement last night.
Samsung can now seek a delay in the ban from a U.S. appeals court that will consider the entire case on legal grounds.
The ban had been imposed by the US International Trade Commission (ITC) in August after Apple claimed the Korean company had infringed its patents, the latest salvo in a long-running battle between the two giants.
President Obama’s refusal to act is likely to irk the Korean company, especially since a similar ban on selling older Apple products was recently vetoed.
In August, the White House overturned a ban on sales of the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G following a separate ITC ban which came after a legal challenge from Samsung. It was the first time a president had exercised the veto since 1987.
“We are disappointed by the US Trade Representative’s decision to allow the exclusion order issued by the US ITC,” Samsung said. “It will serve only to reduce competition and limit choice for the American consumer.”
The Korean company asked Obama to overturn the ban ordered by the U.S. International Trade Commission on public policy grounds — the same relief the president gave Apple in August from an order barring imports of the iPhone 4S. Samsung can now seek a delay from a U.S. appeals court.
The companies are the largest in the $279.9 billion global smartphone market, with Samsung holding the title of world’s biggest. Patent litigation on four continents, which has cost the companies hundreds of millions of dollars in legal fees, has left no clear winner, with each seeking the biggest prize of limiting the other’s sales in the U.S.
Forcing Samsung to change its designs is a victory for Apple claim US observers.
