The International Trade Commission has made an initial ruling that Apple does not infringe any of four Samsung patents. Administrative Law Judge James Gildea issued his determination on Friday that Apple was not liable for any Section 337 violations due to infringement. He further ruled that there is no relevant domestic industry that practices the patented claims—a requirement for the ITC to consider an import ban.

In the ongoing patent dispute between the two smartphone giants, Samsung accused Apple of infringing on two patents that appear to be related to 3G wireless standards, and two that relate to smartphone interfaces. For the ITC to bring sanctions against Apple, it would have to determine that Samsung's patents were valid, that a domestic US market exists where the patented claims are practiced, and that Apple infringed the patented claims.

ALJ Gildea did not comment on the validity of the four patents; the finding of no violation of Section 337 hinges largely on a finding of non-infringement. Even if Apple were found to infringe, however, Gildea ruled that no relevant "domestic industry" exists.

Gildea's ruling today isn't truly final, however. A six-person panel at the ITC will later decide if the ruling stands, or should be reviewed and possibly overturned. Though unlikely, Samsung may be able to convince the panel to overturn the ruling, but it has a better chance of a partial reversal if it can prove that a valid domestic industry uses its patents on appeal.

A federal jury recently ruled that Apple did not infringe similar Samsung patents in a patent infringement lawsuit, while also ruling that Samsung willfully infringed a number of Apple patents and design rights. A judgment in a parallel ITC complaint from Apple against Samsung is expected around October 5.

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