There is a mindset that believes that people/companies involved in violating patents are "Pirates", "Violators of the law", "Shady Entities", however, this is not true and we have included this article to rectify this perception of the people.
The legal battle between the two California based tech giants Apple and Qualcomm has been continuing since nearly a decade. In a recent case at China, Apple was restrained from selling iPhones vide an injunction passed in favour of Qualcomm. Apple however, found a loophole in the order passed and stated in its defense that the Qualcomm patents under question were a part of the earlier versions of the iOS, hence the newer models with the latest iOS do not violate any Court orders or infringe upon the patents of Qualcomm.
The regional Court of China has further granted Qualcomm's request for two preliminary injunctions against four of Apple's Chinese subsidiaries. Qualcomm's claims that technology found in the iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X infringes on two of Qualcomm's patents. The patents in question involve adjusting the size and appearance of photographs, and managing applications on a touchscreen device.
Earlier this year, Qualcomm also accused Apple of stealing valuable trade secrets and providing them to Intel in order to enhance the performance of Intel's chips on iPhones. The claim was made as a part of a court filing at a Superior Court in San Diego. Qualcomm accused Apple of breaking a master software agreement which Apple had signed when it became a customer of Qualcomm. Qualcomm's rival is the company Intel and this agreement clearly restricted the sharing of elements of source code and tools used in Qualcomm's chips with Intel.
The two giants were also found in the German Court earlier this month, wherein the regional Court of Munich passed an order in favour of Qualcomm against a patent infringement suit against Apple. Qualcomm claims that the chips built into iPhones are directly infringing upon the company's patent. The court will have to examine on how the chips actually function. The ruling effectively bans the sale of the latest models including iPhones 7plus, 7, 8, 8plus and X. Apple has an opportunity to appeal the initial ruling, the court said the injunction banning sales of the affected iPhones can only be imposed with immediate effect if Qualcomm laid down a security deposit amounting to USD765 million.
Compiled by: Adv. Sachi Kapoor | Concept & Edited by: Dr. Mohan Dewan
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