Trade panel reviews Apple Samsung patent ruling
The ITC plans to review a ruling made by one of its judges in the global patent dispute taking place between Apple and Samsung.
The International Trade Commission says that it plans to review the decision that South Korean electronics maker Samsung infringed on an Apple-owned patent relating to a text-selection feature in its mobile devices. The patent in question, U.S. Patent No. RE41,922, details "a method and apparatus for producing a translucent image over a base image created on the display screen of a computer system by a selected first application program, and conducting image operations (...) on the base image created by the selected application program."
Present in Samsung smartphones and tablets, a judge previously found that the translucent buttons present in Android galleries infringed upon this patent.
In addition, the IDC plans to scrutinize whether a second patent relating to the detection of microphones or other peripheries within the microphone jack infringes upon Apple-owned patents. Previously, the ITC judge dismissed the claim that Samsung infringed upon this patent.
According to Reuters, a final decision will be made by August 1 this year.
The ITC is a popular avenue for tech giants that are embroiled in patent disputes as the trade panel has the power to prevent products from being imported to the United States — often a key source of revenue for firms — if it believes patents and intellectual properties have been stolen or used without permission.
The complaint was filed by Apple in the middle of 2011. The iPad and iPhone maker accused Samsung of infringing upon patents in a number of mobile devices including the Galaxy, Transform and Nexus series.