US Senators Urge Trade Representative To Think About Repercussions Of ITC Ban On iPhones And iPads

Samsung and Apple have been at each other’s throats for a long time now, and both sides have won some cases, and lost some, and in Apple’s case, the Cupertino company’s older lineup of products such as the iPhone 4, the iPhone 3GS, and the iPad 2 3G will be facing a ban in the US, ultimately preventing the device from being sold legally. This is due to the findings of the court who came to the conclusion that Apple infringed upon declared standard-essential patents owned by Samsung and is expected to go into effect come 5^th of August, but it looks like there are a handful of US senators who believe that the ITC should reconsider this move.

In a letter addressed to Trade Representative Michael Froman, who is responsible for the Presidential review of the ITC order, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Sen. Mike Lee, Sen. Barbara Boxer, and Sen. Jim Risch, are basically asking Froman to consider how some companies are using FRAND patents as weapons in anticompetitive litigation. According to the senators:

Competition and consumers benefit tremendously from the creation of technology standards that promote interoperability, lower costs, and expand consumer choice. Standards are crucial to ensuring that consumers have access to a competitive market of compatible products. The standards setting process depends on a commitment from companies contributing patents to license those patents to all parties implementing the standard on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms. If companies implementing standards cannot rely on FRAND commitments, they will be less likely to participate in standard setting, which will drive up costs for consumers and reduce the pace of innovation.

As it stands the only thing that can prevent the ban from taking place would be by a presidential veto.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Cellphones, Tablets
Tags: iPad, iPhone, Legal