German Court Issues Sales Ban on Select iPhones Violating Qualcomm Patent, Apple Plans to Appeal [Updated]

[MacRumors]

A court in Germany today ruled that some iPhone models equipped with Intel modems infringe on a Qualcomm hardware patent, and issued a preliminary injunction on those devices, according to Reuters and CNBC. However, the reports claim the ruling will not go into immediate effect if Apple appeals, and it almost certainly will.

Matthias Zigann, the judge presiding over the case, ruled that iPhones that contain a combination of chips from Intel and Apple supplier Qorvo violated one of Qualcomm's patents around so-called "envelope tracking," a feature that helps preserve battery life when sending and receiving wireless signals.

The preliminary injunction would prevent affected iPhones, excluding the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, from being sold in Germany.

Last week, a Chinese court also issued a preliminary injunction on the iPhone 6s through iPhone X after the court found those devices violated two separate Qualcomm patents related to app management and photo editing. Apple continues to sell those iPhone models in China, though, despite the ruling.

Apple said it believes it is in compliance with the Chinese court order, but it later released iOS 12.1.2 with minor changes to address the Qualcomm patents, including a new animation for force closing apps and tweaked settings for contact and wallpaper images. The changes were only made in China.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Qualcomm's chief lawyer Don Rosenberg said that Apple continues to "flout the legal system" by violating the preliminary injunction in China and by releasing misleading statements about the ruling.

Apple called Qualcomm's efforts in China "another desperate move by a company whose illegal practices are under investigation by regulators around the world," and said that "Apple and many other companies, consumers, and government will suffer truly irreparable harm" if the sales ban were to be upheld.

The litigation in Germany and China is part of a larger legal battle between Apple and Qualcomm. Last year, Apple accused Qualcomm of anticompetitive business practices related to licensing fees, while Qualcomm has accused Apple of sharing its trade secrets with Intel, its new modem supplier in iPhones.

In the U.S., the FTC filed a complaint against Qualcomm over its business practices last year. The case is set to go to trial in California next month.

Update: Apple has confirmed that it plans to appeal the ruling. In the meantime, it is pulling iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 models from its shelves at its retail stores in Germany, but not resellers or carriers.

Article Link: German Court Issues Sales Ban on Select iPhones Violating Qualcomm Patent, Apple Plans to Appeal [Updated]

 

[Merode]

Not a day without some great Apple news.

 

[dontwalkhand]

Qualcomm is just suing in every country.

 

[heov]

Multiple courts are siding with Qualcomm. Perhaps Apple is actually in the wrong.

Excited to read how some will spin this to defend Apple...

 

[I7guy]

Interesting to see how the suits in the US defending Qualcomm are spun.

 

[Ramchi]

So people can't blame China anymore! Qualcomm playing the game of death by thousand cuts (very famous adage for waging some kind of indirect war )

 

[iBluetooth]

Multiple courts are siding with Qualcomm. Perhaps Apple is actually in the wrong.

Excited to read how some will spin this to defend Apple...

Where Apple lawyers allowed to show up in this court?

 

[H2SO4]

Multiple courts are siding with Qualcomm. Perhaps Apple is actually in the wrong.

Excited to read how some will spin this to defend Apple...

I gotta say german courts aren't usually known for being staffed by marsupials like US and Chinese courts seem to be, so be interesting to see what happens with this.

 

[iBluetooth]

So people can't blame China anymore! Qualcomm playing the game of death by thousand cuts (very famous adage for waging some kind of indirect war )

I think Apple should bend over and make peace with QCOM. Nothing will end their monopoly ...

 

[gavroche]

Multiple courts are siding with Qualcomm. Perhaps Apple is actually in the wrong.

Excited to read how some will spin this to defend Apple...

Come on now... that last comment is a bit unfair.
Sure, you can point out that a couple courts sided with them. If you were fair you woukd also acknowledge that others did not. And more pertinent, you would acknowledge that in the US, the FTC doesn't think highly of Qualcomm's business practices... as referenced in this article.
Or are you gonna suggest that the FTC are just fanboys defending Apple so they don't count..?

 

[Baymowe335]

This sounds loose, doesn't impact the new phones, and will likely never be enforced.

QCOM does look desperate here.

 

[laz232]

Interesting to see how the suits in the US defending Qualcomm are spun.

i don't know the details of this case, but a significant part of the Intel modem chipsets are designed in Germany BTW (old Infineon group IIRC)
that makes me think that the ruling in a German court has merit (or at least is not influenced by economic implications)

 

[Baymowe335]

Multiple courts are siding with Qualcomm. Perhaps Apple is actually in the wrong.

Excited to read how some will spin this to defend Apple...

Yeah, an obscure court in China and now one in Germany that will likely never be enforced. So, 2 courts. The China ruling already was being ignored and has been addressed with software for whatever impact it did have.

 

[HacKage]

This sounds loose, doesn't impact the new phones, and will likely never be enforced.

QCOM does look desperate here.

One persons desperate is another persons doing things by the book. If you had intelectual property and a company started copying it and didn't credit you, would you just accept it? Oh, and that company that's infringing just happens to owe you a **** load of money...

 

[boast]

One persons desperate is another persons doing things by the book. If you had intelectual property and a company started copying it and didn't credit you, would you just accept it? Oh, and that company that's infringing just happens to owe you a **** load of money...

Apple never sued anyone!

 

[Red Oak]

Just wait until the trail in the US starts in April

Qualcomm is desperate to get a settlement and is trying anything to make that happen

 

[1050792]

Apple's just tasting their own medicine.

 

[Baymowe335]

One persons desperate is another persons doing things by the book. If you had intelectual property and a company started copying it and didn't credit you, would you just accept it? Oh, and that company that's infringing just happens to owe you a **** load of money...

QCOM is going to lose pretty much everything against Apple. They already are...

Apple basically tells them to F off and QCOM can only make desperate moves like suing with zero impact. You think sales were actually interrupted in China or that this ban in Germany will even be enforced.

Qualcomm is a patent troll.

 

[tridley68]

I think Apple will prevail because crap com lost their business and I'm pretty sure that will hurt them

 

[Mike MA]

Surprised to see this over here so fast, normally the wars are starting elsewhere and not swapping over so fast.

 

[JRobinsonJr]

Multiple courts are siding with Qualcomm. Perhaps Apple is actually in the wrong.

Excited to read how some will spin this to defend Apple...

You may be right... or wrong. There's certainly enough of that on both sides of the topic. I suspect that the reality is that both companies are screwing the other and this is just a "let's see if mine is bigger than yours" test. Sadly, though, the only losers in this will be the consumers who end up paying inflated prices to reimburse both companies for this game of oneupmanship.

 

[1050792]

QCOM is going to lose pretty much everything against Apple. They already are...

Apple basically tells them to F off and QCOM can only make desperate moves like suing with zero impact. You think sales were actually interrupted in China or that this ban in Germany will even be enforced.

Qualcomm is a patent troll.

Sure Qualcomm is losing that Apple issued an exclusive iOS update to China to change it's iOS animations so it wouldn't violate Qualcomm's patents.
Talking about patent troll? Rounded corners, slide to unlock? Hello?

 

[neuropsychguy]

Multiple courts are siding with Qualcomm. Perhaps Apple is actually in the wrong.

Excited to read how some will spin this to defend Apple...

Apple certainly could be in the wrong on this patent.

However, Qualcomm is in the wrong on a number of issues (some of which involve work with Apple and some of these were mentioned in the article). They were fined more than $1 billion in January 2018 by the EU. There's an ongoing $1 billion lawsuit between Apple and Qualcomm (Qualcomm might not be found in the wrong). In October 2017, Qualcomm was fined $750 million by Taiwan (all but about $90 million of the fine was excused by an agreement between the company and Taiwan). The FTC is making progress with its antitrust suit against Qualcomm. South Korea fined Qualcomm $850 million for antitrust practices.

Qualcomm produces some great products but they are struggling right now. Small victories like this might not be enough to save them from collapse.

 

[Baymowe335]

Sure Qualcomm is losing that Apple issued an exclusive iOS update to China to change it's iOS animations so it wouldn't violate Qualcomm's patents.
Talking about patent troll? Rounded corners, slide to unlock? Hello?

How are they winning if Apple makes a minor change and they keep selling their phones? Qualcomm is stupid to not play nice with a company shipping 220M phones/yr with an ASP of $761.

They are just bitter Apple is in the process of shutting them out of the iPhone completely.
[doublepost=1545322180][/doublepost]

Apple certainly could be in the wrong on this patent.

However, Qualcomm is in the wrong on a number of issues (some of which involve work with Apple and some of these were mentioned in the article). They were fined more than $1 billion in January 2018 by the EU. There's an ongoing $1 billion lawsuit between Apple and Qualcomm (Qualcomm might not be found in the wrong). In October 2017, Qualcomm was fined $750 million by Taiwan (all but about $90 million of the fine was excused by an agreement between the company and Taiwan). The FTC is making progress with its antitrust suit against Qualcomm. South Korea fined Qualcomm $850 million for antitrust practices.

Qualcomm produces some great products but they are struggling right now. Small victories like this might not be enough to save them from collapse.

Right, but this isn't even a victory. They gained nothing by doing this. They actually lost because they are just pissing off a potential customer.

QCOM needs Apple. Apple doesn't need them...at all pretty soon.

 

[H2SO4]

QCOM is going to lose pretty much everything against Apple. They already are...

Apple basically tells them to F off and QCOM can only make desperate moves like suing with zero impact. You think sales were actually interrupted in China or that this ban in Germany will even be enforced.

Qualcomm is a patent troll.

So are Apple. Just googled the number of patents held by Apple.
"How many patents does Apple have?
They just amass a huge arsenal of patents.” Apple alone has more than 75,000 patents and filed for over 2,200 more since the beginning of 2017. Samsung has filed for more than 10,000 patents in the last 18 months and in total has 1.2 million of them."
If Apple are not actively using or have used these in a product they are holding on to these so they can troll everybody else?