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Samsung seeks to ban Apple products in U.S.

Samsung has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission to ban U.S. imports of Apple products.
Written by Andrew Nusca, Contributor

Samsung Electronics said late Wednesday night that it has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission to ban U.S. imports of Apple products.

It's the latest move in a legal battle between the two companies over the Cupertino, Calif.-based company's alleged violation of five patents pertaining to wireless communications standards and mobile user interfaces.

The request, which was filed Tuesday, specifically requests a permanent exclusion order prohibiting U.S. entry of all Apple products in violation of the patents, including its most popular products: the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Samsung previously filed suit against Apple in both the U.S. and South Korea.

AP reporter Kelly Olsen reminds us that there's little concern for fans of those products:

Consumers shouldn't worry about being able to buy products. These disputes take months or years to resolve and typically end with payments of licensing fees rather than any import ban.

Not content to take legal fights sitting down, Apple sued Samsung in South Korea last week claiming that the company copied features from the iPhone for its Galaxy smartphones; Apple first filed suit on the matter in April.

It's the latest volley in an IP melee in the mobile sector: Apple sued Taiwanese handset manufacturer HTC over Android, Microsoft sued Motorola over its use of Google's operating system, and Nokia and Apple recently settled over claims of violations regarding IP for touchscreen gestures and application stores.

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