German court rules ban on sales of select iPhone models that violate Qualcomm patent
A court in Germany has today ruled as part of an ongoing battle between Apple and chipmaker Qualcomm that some iPhone models equipped with Intel modems infringe on Qualcomm’s hardware patent, therefor will be banned from sale in the country, according to Reuters and CNBC.
The judge presiding over the case, Matthias Zigann said that iPhone models which use a combination of chips from Intel and Apple supplier Qorvo have violated Qualcomm’s patents on technology called “envelope tracking,” a feature that helps preserve battery life on a device when sending and receiving wireless signals.
The preliminary injunction given by the judge will mean affected devices, excluding the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR could soon be banned from sale in Germany, a similar story to last week when a Chinese court 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.
Within a statement on Thursday, Apple said that it will stop selling the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus in Germany at Apple Stores whilst the appeal process goes ahead.