A Beijing court has overturned a 2016 ruling that Apple`s iPhone 6 violated a Chinese manufacturer`s patent, which saw intellectual property regulators attempt to bar sale of the phone in the country (via South China Morning Post).
Last June we reported that ailing company Shenzhen Baili filed a lawsuit against Apple claiming that the iPhone 6 violated the patent of its 100c smartphone. Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, the Beijing Intellectual Property Office ruled that the iPhone did infringe on Shenzhen`s patent rights, accusing Apple of having `copied` the exterior design of the 100c phone.
The Cupertino company was ordered to halt sales in Beijing completely, but an appeal at a regional patent tribunal was granted that allowed both the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus to remain on sale. Today`s news finally appears to have put an end to the legal dispute.
The court `quashes the decision of the bureau` and `recognises that Apple ... has not infringed the design patent filed by the company Shenzhen Baili`, according to the verdict reported by the People´s Court Daily.The Beijing court ruled that the features of the iPhone 6 `completely change[d] the effect of the entire product` and made both phones `easily distinguishable in the eyes of consumers`.
The decision is likely to be another nail in the coffin for Baili, which was reported to `barely exist` even at the time of its original victory in the intellectual property office. The company, along with its parent Digione, is no longer a competitor in the Chinese smartphone market and has since collapsed, blighted by mismanagement and public criticism of its products, which were seen as poor quality.
Apple`s lawyers will be relieved with today`s ruling, given that Apple has been on the losing side of Chinese intellectual property lawsuits in the past. In May 2016, an `iPhone` branded leather goods maker won a lawsuit filed by Apple, after the court ruled Xintong Tiandi had registered ...
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