Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool at the bottom of any article or visit www.djreprints.com ||||| The Obama administration halted a ban on older models of iPhones and iPads in a rare presidential move to overturn a decision by the International Trade Commission. 
 
 The announcement Saturday broke from a long tradition of administrations not intervening when the ITC issues import bans on products. The last time a ban was overturned was in 1987. 
 
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 U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said he would stop both an import ban and a cease-and-desist order that would have required Apple to remove the products from its shelves. 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: Apple's lone-wolf strategy backfires) 
 
 In his letter to ITC Chairman Irving Williamson, Froman said the ability to license patents that are part of essential industry standards is “an important element of the administration’s policy of promoting innovation and economic progress.” One Samsung patent involved in the case is part of industry standards. 
 
 An Apple spokesperson said “we applaud the administration for standing up for innovation in this landmark case. Samsung was wrong to abuse the patent system in this way.” 
 
 A Samsung spokesperson said the firm was “disappointed” by the USTR’s decision. “The ITC’s decision correctly recognized that Samsung has been negotiating in good faith and that Apple remains unwilling to take a license,” the spokesperson said. 
 
 (PHOTOS: Politicians and their iToys) 
 
 The ITC import ban arose from a patent dispute at the ITC between Samsung and Apple. The quasi-judicial trade body agreed with the South Korean electronics firm that some iPhone 4 and iPad 2 models violated Samsung patents and ordered a ban on the import and sale of the products. 
 
 After the ITC issued its ruling in June, the decision underwent a 60-day presidential review period. 
 
 The case has generated intense interest in the technology industry because it’s part of a larger battle over whether companies that have agreed to make their patents part of industry standards can then seek injunctions or import bans against rival products over alleged patent violations. 
 
 Last week, a group of senators wrote a letter to Froman expressing concern that if the Apple ban is enacted, the tech industry’s standards-setting process could be jeopardized. 
 
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– The Obama administration has vetoed a ban on the import and sale of some older iPhone and iPad models, overturning a decision by the International Trade Commission for the first time since 1987, Politico reports. The ITC issued an import ban and cease-and-desist on sales for some models of the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 back in June after Samsung claimed they infringed on its patents. But in a letter to the ITC (which you can read in full at All Things Digital, but it's full of legalese), US Trade Representative Michael Froman said it was nixing the ban, as the government is concerned about patent holders gaining "undue leverage," the Wall Street Journal reports. "We applaud the administration for standing up for innovation in this landmark case," says an Apple spokesperson, per Politico. "Samsung was wrong to abuse the patent system in this way." Samsung says it is "disappointed," as "the ITC’s decision correctly recognized that Samsung has been negotiating in good faith and that Apple remains unwilling to take a license," All Things Digital reports. Froman says Samsung can still pursue its patent rights through the judicial system.