Remember back in July when an International Trade Commission judge ruled that HTC was in violation of two Apple patents? Since the decision was made, we've been waiting on a six-person committee to examine the ruling and determine whether or not HTC will actually face a ban, but now it looks like we may not need that committee after all. The ITC has announced that plans to review the judge's decision in the case, which will involve the agency taking another look at the patents themselves and the arguments used by both companies that brought about the initial ruling. The ITC will also consider how the patents are being used by Apple and HTC now. Both firms will be supplying the ITC will all of the necessary documents by next month, and a trial date has been set for December.

Obviously this is pretty great news for the folks at HTC, as it'll likely have a better chance at getting the decision overturned this way than it would've with the ITC's six-member committee. We're still a ways off from the actual trial date, but I'm sure that this won't be the last time that we hear about the battle between Apple and HTC, so keep it locked to PhoneDog for more.

Via Phone Scoop, ITC (PDF)