“On January 23 the top-level decision-making body of the United States International Trade Commission (USITC, or just ITC) gave notice of a remand and a review of a preliminary ruling that found Samsung to infringe four Apple patents (in October),” Florian Mueller reports for FOSS Patents.
“This results in a delay of the U.S. import ban Apple will win if the final ruling finds at least one violation (which is very likely in light of the preliminary finding of four),” Mueller reports. “Without the remand, the final decision would have come down on January 23. Late on Tuesday, Administrative Law Judge Thomas B. Pender entered a scheduling order. The new target date for the final decision is August 1, 2013, requiring the judge to make his remand initial determination (RID) no later than April 1, 2013.”
Mueller reports, “If the final ruling came down on August 1, 2013 and if the determination was an import ban, there would be a 60-day Presidential review period. The White House usually doesn’t veto such decisions. An import ban (possibly coming with a cease-and-desist order and a requirement to post bonds relating to goods imported during the review period) could then take affect at the beginning of October.”
Much more in the full article here.