The US President Barack Obama’s administration recently decided not to veto an import ban on certain Samsung Electronics’ devices, which prompted a reaction from the South Korean government and it expressed its disappointment with the decision on October 9, 2013.
The country’s Trade, Industry and Energy Ministry in a press release said, “It is regrettable that the U.S. government made different decisions related to patent infringement in a situation where Samsung and Apple are globally competing in the mobile telecommunications sector”. The ban was suggested by the US International Trade Commission and it was related to certain old models of Apple’s iPhone and iPad, which were reportedly infringing the patents of Samsung Electronics.
The South Korean ministry in its statement referred to the decision made by Obama to reverse the ban in August 2013. The US Trade Representative Michael Froman on October 8, 2013 announced on behalf of Obama that it will prevent Samsung from exporting to the US a few of its older devices, including the Galaxy S, Galaxy S2, Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy Tab 10.1.
However, analysts have said that the ban’s impact on Samsung’s sales are likely to be minimal, as these are all older models. The company’s reaction was rather similar and Samsung suggested that it will file an appeal against the ruling.
Photo credits: BBC
