The German regional court in Munich ruled on 20 December against Apple in the patent dispute with Qualcomm. As a result of the patent infringement, the court granted Qualcomm's request for an injunction banning the sale of certain iPhone models in Germany.
The patent infringement relates to so-called envelope tracking, a technology that helps to save power. Qorvo, which manufacturers the component for the iPhones sold in Germany, said it is not violating Qualcomm’s patent because it uses its own envelope tracking solution, reports Wiwo.de.
Qualcomm believes it is not possible to circumvent its patent through a change of software on the phones. The company has to pay a bond of EUR 668.4 million to enforce the judgement for two patent trials and said that it plans to do so in the coming days so that the injunction takes effect.
Apple said in a statement that it will appeal the ruling. This will not stop the sales ban from taking effect, and throughout the appeals process, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 models will not be sold in its 15 retail stores in Germany, CNBC reported. Its newest models, the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR, will still be sold in those stores, and all iPhone models will be available through carriers and other third-party retailers in Germany, Apple said.
Most recently a court in China ruled against Apple for violating two of Qualcomm’s patents with several older iPhone models. Qulacomm said in a statement that two different court in two different jurisdictions have confirmed the value of its patents.
