The Obama administration has vetoed a June-imposed ban by the US International Trade Commission (ITC) on the sale of some older models of tech giant Apple's popular devices - the iPhone and the iPad.

The ITC had placed a ban on the sale of certain iPhone and iPad models after its ruling that some Apple devices infringed a patent held by Samsung, Apple's closest competitor in the mobile-devices arena.

With the patent in question pertaining to 3G wireless technology as well as the capability of simultaneous transmission of multiple services correctly, the ITC had ordered a ban on the import and sale of AT&T-offered models of some older Apple devices, including the iPhone 4, iPhone 3, and iPhone 3GS, along with the iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G. Some of the banned devices are not being sold in the US presently.

However, the ban imposed by the ITC on the mentioned Apple devices has been recently overturned by the Obama administration. According to the information shared by President Barack Obama's trade representative, the ITC decision against Apple has been vetoed because of its "effect on competitive conditions in the US economy."

The veto decision by the Obama administration has "tremendously disappointed" industry group The Innovation Alliance which said that the overturning of the ban on Apple devices represented "perhaps the worst of all possible outcomes," and termed it as "a decision that overturns decades of settled understanding without clear guidance" for licensing negotiations.