Qualcomm Vs Apple: Sales Of iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 Banned In Germany

Dhir Acharya


The district court of Munich has banned Apple from selling iPhone 7 and 8 in Germany, how will Apple respond to this?

Continuing Qualcomm’s lawsuit that accuses Apple of using its patent without paying fees, the giant chip maker has just obtained an injunction against the iPhone maker in Germany.

As stated in an official document released by Qualcomm, Munich’s district court decided to ban Apple from selling iPhone 7 as well as iPhone 8 in this country.

Regarding this order, it was initially reported that Apple probably would not have to stop the sale of these two iPhone models since the company had a plan to appeal the court order. But Apple’s clarification indicated that the injunction took immediate effect and that its rival had some misunderstanding there.

However, you may want to note that the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 are both still sold by third parties in Germany, like retail sellers.

According to Qualcomm, Apple filed a request to the court “for a stay of the injunction,” but the court turned it down.

CNET informed that Apple will temporarily stop selling these iPhones at all of its retail store in Germany while appealing to the court order. This means the iPhone 7 and 8 will not be available at 15 Apple stores until a final decision is made. Besides, it seems that Apple will be financially punished, but the specific amount of fine will be decided later.

An Apple Store in Germany

The court also passed Qualcomm’s request for detailed documents on the iPhone 7 and 8’s revenue and profits; plus, all units of these two models will be recalled from retailers in Germany and will be destroyed.

Additionally, Don Rosenberg, Qualcomm’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel, said that within only a fortnight, two respected courts in two distinct countries have confirmed the company’s patents’ value.

Apple released a statement as its response, saying the whole campaign of Qualcomm only means the company is desperate to hide the real problems between the pair. Apple claims Qualcomm’s tactics, which show in both the courts and its everyday business, are doing harm to the innovation as well as consumers.

The injunction will take effect when Qualcomm inform about the damage that Apple has caused to it unless Apple’s appeal works.