Apple has filed a statement on the public interest with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) in connection with Samsung's ITC complaint against Ericsson, parts of which also apply to Ericsson's own complaint against Samsung while other parts are specific to Samsung, reports "FOSS Patents."

The letter argues that "an exclusion order based on any declared standard-essential patents (SEPs) that Samsung has committed to license on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms would contravene the public interest". In Apple's view, "the Commission should decline to institute the proposed investigation", or at least ensure that the judge to whom an investigation will be assigned is authorized to develop an evidentiary record and make a recommendation on the public interest issues involved. Read more at http://tinyurl.com/awrb7bh .

In December, Samsung asked for a ban to ban imports and sales of certain Ericsson products in the U.S., alleging that they infringe its patents. This followed a similar move by Ericsson to ban some Samsung products here.

Samsung filed its complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission on Friday, arguing that the Swedish network equipment company has violated seven of its patents. The key technologies at issue are related to electronic devices for wireless communications and data transfer, including radio frequency and LTE networks.