iLounge reveals a bit of discerning information that took a mysterious amount of time to surface. It turns out that the iPhone 4 shares the same limitations as the iPad and the Apple TV in regards to being unable to transfer rented movies back to your iTunes library.
The ability to move rentals had never been a problem before when renting on previous iPhone models. An excerpt from the iPhone iOS 4 User Guide briefly mentions the limitation on page 99, and it reads as such: