Colombia announced the ban on iphone 12 and 13. The High Court of Columbia, a South American country, ruled that iPhone and iPad products supporting 5G functions infringed Ericsson's patents and had clear patent numbers. According to the ban requirements after the ruling, the related products were banned from selling, and Colombia announced the ban on selling iphone 12 and 13.
Colombia announced the ban on iPhone 12 and 13 1. When the first iPhone sales ban came into effect in Colombia, the patent war between Apple and Ericsson jumped to a new height. Now, Apple seems ready to apply for banning the import and sale of Ericsson products.
This move will mean that Apple will take new legal actions, benefiting from its acquisition of Intel's modem business for $65,438 billion in 20 19. ...
background
Ericsson accused Apple of infringing the patent of the 5G chip used in the current iPhone 13. Apple once paid royalties for the use of patented technology, but failed to renew the license when it expired. It is reported that after reaching an agreement on 2G, 3G and 4G patented technologies earlier, Apple hopes to reach a better agreement on the 5G licensing negotiations.
Last year, in June+February, 5438, when Apple sued Ericsson, claiming that the Swedish company had violated the FRAND clause, the situation became very fierce. International law requires that standard essential patents (SEP: technology without which it is impossible to manufacture smart phones) be based on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. In other words, Apple claims that the patent license fee charged by Ericsson is too high.
Ericsson, in turn, accused Apple of forcibly launching unnecessary lawsuits in two aspects and wasting court resources. Apple countered by filing other patent infringement lawsuits against Ericsson.
Apple refused to pay to put pressure on Ericsson, and Ericsson hoped to repay Apple by banning the import and sale of iPhone in many countries. The Swedish company achieved the first iPhone ban in Colombia.
Apple initiated the SEP infringement lawsuit against Ericsson for the first time.
Apple has filed several patent infringement counterclaims against Ericsson before, but it has never filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Standard Essential Patent (SEP), which may be because Apple's research and development work has not involved these before.
However, after the acquisition of Intel modem business by Kloc-0/9, Apple owned some standard essential patents, and Foss Patents reported that Apple filed a patent infringement claim against the standard essential patents for the first time.
There are more and more "firsts" in the dispute between Ericsson and Apple's 5G patent. Colombia's first standard essential patent (SEP) judgment (Ericsson is implementing a 5G ban and Apple is trying to stop it); The first "urgent motion" to claim damages in history: Now, this is Apple's first lawsuit in September. Previously, Apple was the recipient of the SEP lawsuit. "
This patent is applicable to 4G/LTE technology.
Florian Mueller said that although it was not clear whether Apple sought to ban the import and sale of Ericsson's 4G/LTE products, the court chosen by Apple provided a huge clue.
"The location is of course Munich, which is the number one hot spot of the SEP ban in the world (although we haven't found out whether Apple is seeking a ban, we can be sure that it is doing so now or will do so in the future)."
Colombia announced the ban on iPhone 12 and 132. Recently, the High Court of Columbia, a South American country, ruled that iPhone and iPad products supporting 5G function infringed the patent number of Ericsson (NC20 19/000368 1). According to the ban requirements after the ruling, the related products are prohibited from being sold. In fact, the relevant ruling was made three months ago, but after Ericsson paid the deposit, the ruling made by the court before the recent implementation proved that Apple's public relations efforts in recent months had no effect.
In fact, Apple has almost no ability to counter the ruling. Now that the infringement has been established and the established facts cannot be changed, can Apple overturn the ruling through subsequent appeals? This possibility does not seem to exist, because the judge who ruled the case did not allow Apple to counterclaim the relevant ruling. Perhaps the judge thought it was meaningless to appeal against such a well-documented infringement case, so he cut off Apple's back road from the beginning.
The patent is valid until 65438+February 2037, which means that Apple will be restricted by this patent in the next 15 years. Why are you so sure that Apple will have little room to make a comeback in the next 15 years?
Because Apple is afraid, it can't counterclaim in the place where the case is decided, but only in the United States. The request is not to continue the lawsuit with Ericsson, but to hope that Ericsson can withdraw the lawsuit as soon as possible on the premise of paying the patent fee, proving that Apple's breach of contract infringes Ericsson's patent, and wants to deal with it as soon as possible, just trying to minimize the loss.
Another important reason why Apple is so anxious to withdraw the case is that it is worried that Ericsson will launch the same lawsuit in more countries and regions, and it is even more afraid that other patent manufacturers will follow suit. After this time, you will suffer even greater losses. Ericsson sued Apple in Colombia, which had little impact, more like a warning to Apple. It is estimated that Apple may pay all the expenses in one lump sum. As for whether Ericsson will give Apple this face, it is hard to say.
There is nothing to say about paying for other people's patents, which further proves the importance of independent research and development. If Apple is so controlled by others, other manufacturers can imagine. Perhaps Apple will be more determined to continue to independently develop the 5G baseband. If we consider it from this aspect, pressure will become motivation.
Colombia announced that it would ban the sale of iPhone 12 and 133. Recently, foreign media broke the news that Apple may lose the qualification to release 5G products. This triggered a heated discussion among netizens. Isn't Apple without a chip crisis? Why can't I use the 5G function? In fact, Apple is backstab, a "good brother".
Apple's 5G products are banned.
The Colombian court said that "Apple will be prohibited from selling any devices supporting 5G functions in the Colombian market". In other words, the iPhone 12, iPhone 13 and the new iPad released by Apple in the past two years will be banned. The reason why the Colombian court made such a judgment was because Ericsson sued Apple for infringing its 5G essential standard patent.
Ericsson said that its previous 5G patent licensing contract with Apple has expired, and Apple is still using its own patents without a new license, infringing its own rights and interests. Ericsson demands that Apple immediately stop its' infringement'. Ericsson's complaint was supported by the Colombian court. In the end, Apple lost the lawsuit, not only losing Ericsson's losses, but also losing the right to sell 5G products in this market.
Apple really can't sit still.
Even Apple, which has experienced various storms, is a little flustered this time. Apple actively appealed to the Colombian court, but the judge who heard the case said that Apple was not qualified to counterclaim the ban, and unless Apple obtained the plaintiff's understanding and the plaintiff withdrew the charges against Apple, the ban would be implemented normally in a short period of time.
After learning the news, domestic netizens vomited that "American companies also have today" and "Here, Apple and Huawei are on the same starting line again, because everyone can only sell 4G mobile phones". That's understandable. After all, Apple has a lot of opinions about patents in the China market, and domestic manufacturers suffer greatly. Now it's finally Apple's turn to be the defendant.
Apple is naturally unacceptable to the court's decision. Apple has also come up with a killer weapon-going back to the United States to file a lawsuit. Apple has the title of "Pizza Hut in North America", and the US court will give Apple some "thin noodles" so as not to let Apple lose too badly. At present, Apple has filed an anti-infringement compensation lawsuit in the United States-Apple is willing to bear all the compensation and pay Ericsson's patent fees. As long as Ericsson gives up its rights protection, everything is easy to discuss.
"Home Victory" Apple
Sure enough, our own people didn't let Apple down. After the court in Texas accepted the case, it quickly made a judgment-demanding Ericsson to "compensate all losses, expenses and costs suffered by Apple due to the Colombian ban". The courts of the two countries made such different judgments. Netizens were shocked.
However, this is understandable. After all, China enterprises have seen the position and attitude of American courts. Apple has basically never lost a lawsuit in a local court. However, Ericsson obviously cannot accept such a trial-the plaintiff becomes the defendant? This is nonsense. It can't be so obvious to engage in black-box operations. Therefore, Ericsson is determined to fight hard with Apple and ask the Colombian court to enforce the ban as soon as possible.
At present, Ericsson and Apple are in a stalemate, but insiders say that Apple may not last long because Ericsson holds the initiative. After all, Apple is stuck in the neck by Ericsson's 5G patent, and it is impossible not to bow to Ericsson.
Why is Apple so flustered?
In fact, the Colombian market may just be Ericsson's "duel". After all, Ericsson's technology patents are applicable to all countries in the world. If Ericsson pursues them in other markets, then Apple will not only lose this market, so Apple dare not offend Ericsson. It is the best result that Apple can encounter.
Ericsson, which has taken the initiative, will definitely not miss this "opportunity to fish in troubled waters". If Apple doesn't want to lose the right to continue using the 5G patent, it can only make Ericsson overcharge, and Ericsson's starting price is the inevitable result.