Just when the two countries have decided to keep the trade war under control, one of the major companies from the United States is having a tough time in China. According to the latest happenings, a Chinese court has officially banned the sales of most iPhone devices in the country. This ban comes after an injunction was filed by Qualcomm against the Paulo Alto company, but will have an impact on international relations.
Two preliminary injunctions were filed by Qualcomm, the US-based chipmaker giant. According to these two injunctions, Apple has allegedly violated some of Qualcomm’s patents by introducing some technologies to the iPhone devices. Phone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X are the devices against which the injunctions were filed. The court had granted both injunctions.
In practice, it means that Apple cannot sell the aforesaid models of Apple iPhone in China. It should be noted that the newer devices like iPhone XS, XS Max and iPhone XR are not included in the ban since these devices were not available at the time when Qualcomm filed the lawsuit. As for the violations, Qualcomm says that Apple has used in-phone photo editing and touch-screen navigation in iPhone device without patents.
Qualcomm seems to be in a fully-fledged move to take on Apple and its major products. “If Apple is violating the orders, Qualcomm will seek enforcement of the orders through enforcement tribunals that are part of the Chinese court system,” read one of the statements from the company. Apple has not pulled the products from Chinese stores as of now.
Of course, Apple maintains that Qualcomm is playing ‘dirty tricks’ to attack Apple, through the use of a patent that was found to be invalid by other international laws. “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,” added the company.
