The US International Trade Commission (ITC)'s import ban on as many as 18 Android-based Motorola products will take effect from Wednesday, July 18 --- the date of expiry of a 60-day Presidential review period which the agency's ruling was conditional on.

The import ban was ordered two months back, with the agency stating that the products in question infringed a Microsoft patent pertaining to Exchange Active Sync. The patent at dispute involves the mechanism that facilitates the users in generating meeting requests and group scheduling from a mobile device.

Motorola Mobility said that it has plans in place to ensure that the availability of its Android-based handsets and tablets to US consumers is not impeded due to the ban, which will effect the following Motorola devices: Atrix, Backflip, Bravo, Charm, Cliq, Cliq 2, Cliq XT, Defy, Devour, Droid 2, Droid 2 Global, Droid Pro, Droid X, Droid X2, Flipout, Flipside, Spice and the Xoom tablet.

Though Motorola refrained from disclosing its plans, it is being speculated that the company could either license the ActiveSync technology from Microsoft, or remove the infringing feature, or even issue a software update which allows for the implementation of the at-dispute feature in such a way that Microsoft's patent is not infringed.

Asserting that it has taken "proactive measures" to make sure that it "industry leading smartphones remain available to consumers in the US," Motorola said: "We respect the value of intellectual property and expect other companies to do the same."