Roger Fingas
The Intellectual Property Court in Beijing has overturned a ruling that found Apple violated a patent belonging to a Chinese tech firm, Shenzhen Baili — and in the process, removed the threat of a city-wide ban on iPhone 6 and 6 Plus sales.
In summer 2016, the Beijing Intellectual Property Office found that Apple had copied the exterior of a Baili smartphone — the 100C — through design traits like curved edges and rounded corners, Agence France-Presse noted on Saturday. Sales were allowed to continue temporarily while Apple's appeal was underway.
The 100C patent dates back to March 2014, around the time leaked images of the iPhone 6 began to emerge. Baili has sometimes been accused of simply copying those leaks to beat the iPhone 6 design to market, something which it denies.
Baili filed suit against Apple in Dec. 2014, but by the time of the IPO decision, both it and its parent company had become insolvent. The IPO nevertheless issued the suspended sales injunction against Apple.
In its appeal, Apple argued that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus included 13 technical differences with the 100C, and that the average shopper could "easily" distinguish between the phones.
Apple has sometimes had a rough experience with the Chinese patent and trademark system, for instance having to pay out $60 million to settle an iPad trademark dispute.
Andrew Orr
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12 Comments
And all it cost was setting up a new "research centre" in China.
Curved edges and rounded corners? That sounds like almost every smartphone in existence. If that's the case, Apple should be suing everyone who even remotely copied the original iPhone. Actually, from the side view, that 100C has similar but thinner lines to the first iPhone. Oh, well, they already tried that with Samsung and the courts also gave Apple no satisfaction. Boy, oh boy... Apple is everyone's first target for trying to get some free cash. The 100C has no antenna lines and the flash placement is different from the 6s.
Wow, is this a first ?
Is this the first court case in Apple's favour in China ?
Is this the first time a foreign company has won a court case against a Chinese company in China ?
I honestly don't know and frankly don't care enough to research it. And if you picked up a hint of cynicism in the questions you would be correct.
Just another scammer looking for a payoff most likely.
Apple, the inventor of the modern smartphone in its current form has to deal with these cheating, immoral a-holes by paying off the government and investing in their backwards country. I guess it's Karma, US companies handed China it's IP & blueprints, technical production know how, and factories in exchange for slave labor. And Karma swings back the other way as China poisons itself in their own pollution. Apple needs to start building robot factories in the US now - it won't bring too many jobs but at least it can bring control back and end the blackmail.