ITC orders review of Apple-Samsung patent case

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) is to review the ongoing patent dispute between Apple and Samsung after reassessing an earlier decision.

In October, the ITC ruled Samsung had infringed on four Apple patents, in a potentially key win for the Californian firm against its rival that could have seen numerous devices from the South Korean firm banned from sale in the US.

Samsung immediately moved to appeal the decision and the ITC confirmed in November it would carry out an initial assessment.

Now, in a document released on Wednesday evening, the ITC said it would proceed with a full review.

"Having examined the record of this investigation, including the ALJ's [administrative law judge] final ID [initial determination], the petitions for review, and the responses, the Commission has determined to review the final ID in its entirety," it said.

It also asked the judge who oversaw the original decision, Thomas Pender, to reassess two of the patents he earlier agreed had been infringed.

"The Commission remands the investigation to the ALJ with respect to certain issues related to the '922 patent and the '501 patent."

The ITC said it would not seek further briefings from the firms involved, but said it expected the review to push back the date for the cases final outcome, which had been scheduled for 27 March.

Apple said it was not commenting on the decision and Samsung had not replied to a request for comment from V3.

The legal wranglings between the two firms dominated the headlines in 2012 with cases across the world including the US, UK and Germany throwing up numerous different outcomes.