The administration of the US President Barack Obama has recently issued a veto on the pending sales ban of certain older Apple products (the iPad 2 or earlier and the iPhone 4 or earlier). Following a ruling of the US International Trade Commission (ITC) back in early June, the products were supposed to be banned from selling because of violation of a certain Samsung-owned standards-essential patent.
The Obama administration stepped up and disproved the ITC determination to issue an exclusion order and cease and desist order due to its effect on "competitive conditions in the U.S. economy and the effect on U.S. consumers." This action is entirely in the competence of the President's office although this block of the ITC ban is said to be the first (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324136204578646192008412934.html?mod=e2tw) of its kind since the Reagan administration in 1987.
Obama's office reminds of "the potential harms that can result" from using standards