Over the weekend, a Beijing court overturned a local intellectual property bureau?s ruling that Apple had violated a defunct Shenzhen company?s patented design with the iPhone 6. The ruling is the latest indicates that Chinese courts will not always rule in favor of its home markets.
In May 2016, the Beijing Intellectual Property Office issued a ruling that Apple Inc. had violated the design patents of Chinese smartphone maker Shenzen Baili with its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus designs. The Chinese company alleged that Apple had copied its own Baili 100C smartphone.
When the Wall Street Journal attempted to track down Baili and inquire into its operations the following month, it found no signs that the company was still operational. Phone calls to the company went unanswered, the company websites had been deleted, and visits to three addresses in Shenzhen found no remaining company offices at those locations.
The company?s lawyers, however, insisted that it remained operational. Though it can be assumed this was mostly for the sake of extending its claims against Apple. Following the ruling last year in Beijing, Apple was given an injunction to stop selling its iPhone 6 models in that market, though it was able to quickly file an administrative appeal to sell these units again until further review by the court. Of course, by the time the court had reviewed its appeal, the iPhone 7 was already well into production and scheduled to ship over the new few months, resulting in minimal damage to the company?s gross profit margins.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks