Recently, the President of United States vetoed the decision for the ITC to impose a ban on Apple products, namely the iPhone 4 and iPad 2. Apple was found to have infringed on Samsung’s patents, which in returns caused the ban order to go into affect.
Due to this decision, in a recent report by Reuters, the South Korean government is showing concern about Samsung Electronics Co Ltd’s patent protection rights. South Korean media has come in outrage on this decision and are calling it ‘protectionism’.
“We express concerns about the negative impact that such a decision would have on the protection of patent rights,” the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy, said in a statement.
South Korean ministry is showing a lot of concern due to this decision. Samsung has also lost $1 Billion market value as well.
United States Trade Representative Michael Forman overturned the ITC ban before it could go into effect. Here is what he states:
This decision is based on my reiew of the various policy considerations discussed above as they relate to the effect on competitive conditions in the U.S. economy and the effect on U.S. consumers.
Since 2011, both Apple and Samsung have been at each others throats in legal matters. While the companies have tried to come up with solutions outside of court, nothing has really formed due to neither side being willing to compromise.
It is worth noting that since the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 have already been replaced with newer products in their respective category, the damage would not have been so much. The iPhone 4 is vastly popular in the prepaid market as of right now, but that might change with Apple rumored to release a budget polycarbonate iPhone.
