If the U.S. International Trade Commission affirms and adopts an initial determination filed by one of its administrative law judges, Samsung products found to infringe on particular Apple patents will be subject to a sales ban. The judge also recommended that the Korean firm be made to post a bond worth 88% of its U.S. smartphone sales.
While the Friday filing does not necessarily mean Samsung will face an import ban, Judge Thomas Pender’s recommended determination on remedy and bond could lead to hefty sanctions for the Galaxy maker if the six-member Commission agrees with his findings and adopts the suggested solution.
The judge’s recommendations are a continuation of the preliminary ruling he handed down in October, which found Samsung had infringed on four Apple design patents.
The proposed sanctions consist of a U.S. sales ban, a simultaneous cease-and-desist order prohibiting the sale of “commercially significant” quantities of infringing products and a series of bond requirements.
Judge Pender also outlined a number of workarounds that Samsung could implement to avoid the proposed sanctions. And, there is a possibility that the Commission may not sign off on the recommendations, as Apple’s case is thought to have been weakened when the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office invalidated one of the patents-in-suit earlier this month.
ITC Recommended Determination on Remedy
