The ruling was made back in June and found that Apple had infringed on Samsung’s wireless communication patent. Any and all devices that were guilty of infringement could not be sold in U.S. The judgement was supposed to go into effect today, but just like a mercy call from the governor, the Obama Administrations vetoed that decision. Ultimately allowing the infringing devices to stay on store shelves and be sold to the public. The talks put this at a 1 billion dollar market loss for Samsung.
My decision to disapprove this determination does not mean that the patent owner is not entitled to a remedy. On the contrary, the patent owner may continue to pursue its rights through the courts.
– Ambassador Michael B. G. Froman, U.S. Trade Representative.
We all know the patent system is pretty broken, but there are still all these things in place to help protect the people with the patents. No matter how right or how absurdly wrong the patent might be. The overall reason for saying “No way,” was because of the effect on ”competitive conditions in the U.S. economy and the effect on U.S. consumers.” Saying that they need to promote innovation and economic progress. Not sure how letting infringements go by without punishment and the continued sale of old technology does any of that though.
If you let the conspiracy nut out in me, then I wonder who called in a favor. I could go on for days about that. For now we will just have to wait, wonder and see what happens. There is another ruling coming up on August 9th where the two companies will face off again on permanent injunctions from the trial last August. That same day we should hear if the ITC will agree with Apple on infringing on their patents and ban certain Samsung devices from selling. The water could get pretty dirty if they do schedule the ban and the Obama administration does nothing about it. I will sure be keeping my eyes open for that ruling.