Apple Firms' Legal Representatives in China Face Detention Over Sales Ban, Attorney Says
Xu Wei
DATE:  Dec 27 2018
/ SOURCE:  yicai
Apple Firms' Legal Representatives in China Face Detention Over Sales Ban, Attorney Says Apple Firms' Legal Representatives in China Face Detention Over Sales Ban, Attorney Says

(Yicai Global) Dec. 26 — If Apple doesn't comply with a court-ordered  sales ban, Qualcomm is entitled to apply for fines, detention and  restrictions on leaving the country against the legal representatives of  Apple's four companies in China. It can also seek to record such  information in the credit reference system, Jiang Hongyi, Qualcomm  China's patent lawsuit attorney, told the Beijing Youth Daily.  

Qualcomm has applied for a compulsory execution order with the Fuzhou  Intermediate People's Court in southeast China's Fujian province and  will keep track of the follow-up. Apple's goodwill will be damaged if  the multinational firm is severely punished by the court for resisting  enforcement of the ban, the Beijing Youth Daily reported today, quoting  Jiang. 

Apple tried to get around Qualcomm's patents by updating  iPhone's operating system recently. After Apple unveiled the update,  Qualcomm, accompanied by notaries, bought the banned iPhone models sold  at Apple stores in Beijing and found that the operating system being  used was still the old version. So effectively, Apple's update has  nothing to do with the execution of the court ban, Jiang insisted,  adding that the ban applies to seven iPhone models regardless of the iOS  operating system version. 

The  ban issued by the court should stay effective until the second instance  judgment, Jiang noted. Recently, Qualcomm asked Chinese courts to ban  the latest iPhone XS, XS Max and XR in China, and all of Apple's iPhone  models will be banned if the court approves, he added. 

The  conflict between the two American industry titans began in January last  year. Apple sued Qualcomm in California, United States, claiming it was  monopolizing the wireless chip market and filed a lawsuit with the  Beijing Intellectual Property Court in China. Soon afterwards, Apple  stopped paying Qualcomm for the patents. 

On  Dec. 10, the Fuzhou Intermediate People's Court issued a sales ban,  demanding Apple immediately stop importing, selling and offering to sell  unauthorized products in China which infringed Qualcomm's two patents.  The banned products include all phones from iPhone 6S to iPhone X. Since  the ban was issued, Apple has been selling the banned products on  China's e-commerce platforms such as Tmall, JD.com and Suning.com and  its offline stores. 

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Keywords:   Qualcomm,Apple,US