The U.S. International Trade Commission just handed Apple its second major patent victory against Samsung in a week, ordering Samsung to stop importing certain mobile devices because they infringe on Apple patents.
The ban goes into effect in 60 days.
Apple's win comes six days after the Obama administration overruled a prior ITC ruling against Apple for infringing on Samsung patents, a ruling that would have prevented Apple from importing older iPhone and iPad models from manufacturing partners abroad.
With the veto, the administration reasoned that Samsung was using its patents to make Apple pay an unfair price to implement a widespread wireless standard. The administration’s ITC veto was the first such move since 1987, according to news reports.
With today's ruling, the ITC found that Samsung had violated a pair of Apple patents that are not essential to implementing an industry standard. This means the ruling is less likely to be overturned. The patents concern detecting headphone plugs and detecting commands on a touchscreen.
The commission also found that Samsung had not infringed two other patents concerning design and translucent images, as determined by an ITC judge in a prior ruling.
Although the case began in 2011 and technically deals with older Samsung devices, today's ban could apply to newer Samsung products. "ITC import bans are not limited to the exemplary infringing products at issue in an investigation," wrote patent consultant and activist Florian Mueller. "They broadly prohibit any violations committed through the importation of infringing goods by a respondent."
