Chinese court: Apple infringed on Qualcomm
A two-year legal battle between Apple and its chip supplier, Qualcomm, reached a new level of contention Monday when Qualcomm said a Chinese court had ordered Apple to stop selling older iPhone models in China.
The court ruling is the latest turn in the two companies’ fight over Apple’s use of Qualcomm technology in iPhones. But Apple and Qualcomm disagreed on the impact the decision will have on iPhone sales in China.
Qualcomm said a Chinese court ruled Nov. 30 that Apple had infringed on two Qualcomm patents and issued a preliminary injunction that bars Apple from selling the iPhone 6S, the iPhone 6S Plus, the iPhone 7, the iPhone 7 Plus, the iPhone 8, the iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone X in China. The ruling did not apply to Apple’s three newest iPhones: the XS, the XS Max and the XR.
Apple said in a statement, however, that it continued to sell all iPhone models in China.
“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,” an Apple spokesman, Josh Rosenstock, said.
Late Monday in China, Apple continued to sell four of the seven iPhone models affected by the ruling — the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus and the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus — on its Chinese website, as well as its newer models.
Apple’s stock price had moved little in midday trading Monday. Qualcomm’s stock had risen about 2.1 percent by midday.
It is possible that Apple would be able to sell older iPhones if they were running on newer software. But Don Rosenberg, Qualcomm’s executive vice president and general counsel, said in a statement that the court ruling wasn’t specific to the phones’ software. He said Qualcomm would ask the Chinese courts to enforce the order.
“Apple continues to benefit from our intellectual property while refusing to compensate us,” he said.
The ruling in China involved two Qualcomm patents. One lets consumers adjust and reformat the size and appearance of photographs. The other manages applications using a touch screen when viewing, navigating and dismissing applications, Qualcomm said. A Qualcomm spokeswoman said Apple could ask the Fuzhou Intermediate People’s Court to reconsider its orders within 10 days of being served with them.