Apple violated the Qualcomm patent and the rules of the US trade judges

A US trade judge on Tuesday recommended banning the importation of certain iPhones after finding that Apple Inc. had violated a patent held by Qualcomm Inc., awarding a victory to the mobile giant in his long quarrel with his former trading partner.

The decision of the US International Trade Commission judge means that Apple could be banned from selling its iPhones abroad before sending them to the US and other markets.