Samsung in Tears: US Rules It Infringed Apple Patents

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has ruled today that Samsung's electronic mobile devices infringe on two Apple patents, and related products will be banned from importation and sale in the United States.

The ITC has submitted its ruling to President Obama for review, who will have 60 days to make a final decision. If approved by Obama, the ruling will take formal effect, beginning Samsung's potential nightmare.

The ITC determined that the first patent of Apple infringed upon by Samsung is the "501 Patent," which concerns technology for automatically detecting whether an earphone plug is inserted into the headphone jack; the second is the "949 Patent," involving touch-screen device technology for recognizing slide gestures.

Four other infringement lawsuits filed by Apple were dismissed.

In recent years, Apple and Samsung have been embroiled in fierce global patent battles spanning over a dozen countries. Just a few days ago, Obama rejected the ITC's June ruling that prohibited the sale of some Apple products in the U.S. that infringed on Samsung patents. This was the first time in several decades that a U.S. president had overturned an ITC ruling.

This has raised concerns within the South Korean government, and if this time Obama approves the ITC's ruling, the South Korean government will undoubtedly protest against the perceived favoritism of the U.S. government towards its domestic enterprises.

Currently, neither Apple nor Samsung have commented on this matter.