Apple has filed an appeal with a Chinese court to reverse the ban imposed on all iPhone models in the country since the iPhone 6s. The ban is essentially a part of the ongoing legal battle between Qualcomm and Apple.
“Qualcomm’s effort to ban our products is another desperate move by a company whose illegal practices are under investigation by regulators around the world,” Apple said in a statement to CNBC.
While Qualcomm stated in a press release that a Chinese court has issued two preliminary injunctions against Apple subsidiaries in the country. As per the order, Apple is supposed to halt ‘sale and offers for sale in China of the iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X’.
“Apple continues to benefit from our intellectual property while refusing to compensate us. These Court orders are further confirmation of the strength of Qualcomm’s vast patent portfolio. The injunctions require Apple to immediately stop infringing on two Qualcomm patents,” said Don Rosenberg, executive vice president and general counsel, Qualcomm Incorporated.
Apple was found to be infringing upon two patents as per the Chinese court’s ruling.
These include a patent for changing and reformatting the size and appearance of photographs, and one for managing apps when viewing, navigating and dismissing apps using a touchscreen.
Despite the court’s order, Apple insists it’ll keep selling iPhones in China. The Cupertino giant says it did not violate these patents and the ban goes beyond the scope of the two injunctions.
“All iPhone models remain available for our customers in China. Qualcomm is asserting three patents they had never raised before, including one which has already been invalidated. We will pursue all our legal options through the courts,” said Apple.
Apple and Qualcomm have been engaged in a rather fierce legal battle for the past few years. Both tech giants have sued each other in various courts in several countries across the globe.
