A key trade regulator sided with Apple yesterday and ordered a ban on the import of some devices made by Taiwanese handset manufacturer HTC. 

The U.S. International Trade Commission’s injunction is set to take effect on April 19 to give wireless operators time to adjust their inventory.  

Only devices infringing on Apple's patents are subject to the decision, and HTC will be allowed to import refurbished phones to replace devices covered by warranty or insurance. 

HTC could not be immediately reached for comment, but company general counsel Grace Lei told the Associated Press that the patent challenged in the case "affects a small part of the user experience" and will be removed from affected phones. 

The ITC found that HTC had violated one of Apple's patents on data detection, but threw out Apple's claims about three other patents in the case. The data detection patent covers functions like tapping on a phone number sent in a text message to call that number. 

Noted intellectual property analyst Florian Mueller called Apple's patent win "one of medium value" and said the ITC's ruling may ultimately have little effect on HTC's sales in the United States.  

"If Google can implement this popular feature, which users of modern-day smartphones really expect, without infringing on the two patent claims found infringed, this import ban won't have any effect whatsoever," Mueller said in a post on his blog. "Otherwise HTC will have to remove this feature, which would put HTC at a competitive disadvantage as compared to other smartphone vendors, including other Android device makers." 

HTC is one of the top manufacturers of Android-based smartphones in the United States. The company makes nearly 16 percent of all Android handsets in the country, according to recent estimates from Nielsen. Samsung and Motorola each hold about 10 percent of the U.S. Android market.  

The ITC had twice postponed its decision on Apple's patent suit against HTC. The commission had originally planned to announce its decision on Dec. 6, but then delayed the ruling until Dec. 14. before pushing the order out another five days to Dec. 19.  

Apple's ITC complaint against HTC is part of the iPhone manufacturer's ongoing efforts to fight companies it says are stealing its ideas. Apple is also waging an international fight against Samsung, whose devices it says "slavishly copy" the iPhone and iPad. Apple recently had a short-lived victory in the Samsung fight with a temporary import ban in Australia on the Galaxy Tab 10.1, but Apple's bid to extend the injunction was denied earlier this month, allowing Samsung to again sell the tablet. 

Google says Apple's legal battles over its intellectual property rights are an attack on its Android operating system, which has eroded Apple's dominance in the smartphone space.