AT&T and others supporting in looming U.S. ban of older i and iPads

As an August 4 ban on U.S. sales of some of ’s most-popular products looms, the iPhone maker is picking up business support. AT&T, Verizon, and other companies are asking that U.S. President Barack Obama overturn an ITC-ordered ban on the sale of some products judged to infringed upon standards-essential patents owned and asserted against by rival .At issue is whether is unfairly using essential patents as a wpon to gain an upper-hand in U.S. smartphone sales. The iPhone 4, for instance, is one of ’s best-selling handsets…In’s legal challengeto the domestic sales ban, AT&T’s comments to the U.S. International Trade Commission representative are quoted. Among the statements by the U.S. carrier: such a halt in sales of a low-cost iPhone was“inconsistent with the president’s goal of ubiquitous broadband deployment.”The U.S. trade representative, Michael Froman, has the power to allow or not the ITC ban to go into effect.AT&T’s comments followthose of Verizon Wirelesstop lawyer Randal Milch, also calling for the ban’s reversal. Verizon and AT&T combinedsupplied 79 percentof ’s U.S. smartphone sales during the June quarter, Kantar announced rlier Monday.According toThe Wall Street Journal, officials from the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission are voicing their concern about the ban and the overall issue of tech firms using essential patents as a club against competitors.In response, the South Korn said it“has never offensively used its patents, essential or not, to keep competitors out of the market.”Notice the qualifiion of“offensively.”Others, too, have come out against using essential patents as a wpon.Among them: BSA, the software trade group and chip giant , which is scheduled to testify before a Senate hring on the issue.Although a presidential veto is not common – the most recent reversal of an ITC ruling was in 1987, according to the Journal – there apprs to be growing concern in the Obama administration about using product bans based on essential technology patents.Both the Justice Department and the U.S. Patent and Trademark in January told the ITC there needs to be a“cautious approach to issuing product bans involving essential patents,”reports the Journal.As well, a government investigation into how used such patents in lawsuits is also reportedly underway.