The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has rejected Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC’s patent infringement complaint against Apple.

The ITC’s preliminary decision was reached after ITC administrative judge Charles E. Bullock found “no violation of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930” by Apple “by reason of infringement” of four HTC patents under discussion.

The patents – which the administrative judge ruled are valid – cover technology for power management and phone dialling.

HTC initially filed the complaint in May June 2010, requesting the ITC to ban imports of Apple’s iPods, iPhones and iPads in to the US. The ITC instituted an investigation of the complaint the following June.

Reuters reports that the ITC will review the complaint in February next year to decide whether to uphold or reject yesterday’s preliminary decision.

A separate Reuters report said HTC remains confident despite the court loss. "This is only one step of many in these legal proceedings. We are confident we have a strong case for the ITC appeals process and are fully prepared to protect our intellectual property," HTC’s general counsel Grace Lei said in a statement.

Apple is embroiled in a more wide-ranging patent dispute with Samsung which recently saw the South Korean company seek preliminary injunctions in Japan and Australia requesting a ban on sales of  Apple’s latest iPhone 4S.