U.S. International Trade Commission Declines to Block iPhone Imports in Ongoing Apple v. Qualcomm Case

The United States International Trade Commission will not be blocking imports of the iPhone in the ongoing Apple v. Qualcomm case, reports Reuters.

Qualcomm had asked the ITC to ban imports of the AT&T and T-Mobile iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X models that use chips from Intel, citing multiple patent violations.

qualcomm iphone 7
Qualcomm did not ask for a ban on iPhones that use Qualcomm LTE chips, with the reasoning that a more limited exclusion order was more likely to be granted.

An ITC judge said on Friday that while Apple's iPhones infringe on a patent related to power management technology, a ban will not be put in place. The judge cited "public interest factors" as one of the reasons why the court ruled against Qualcomm.

Neither Apple nor Qualcomm have commented on the decision as of yet, but it marks a major victory for Apple in its months-long legal battle with Qualcomm.

The two companies have been embroiled in an increasingly tense legal feud that kicked off in January 2017. Qualcomm and Apple have filed several more than a dozen lawsuits against one another since then.

Apple has accused Qualcomm of charging unfair royalties for "technologies they have nothing to do with," while Qualcomm claims that its inventions form the "very core" of modern mobile communication.

Earlier this week, Qualcomm further escalated the dispute by accusing Apple of providing confidential trade information and trade secrets stolen from Qualcomm to Intel.

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Top Rated Comments

AngerDanger Avatar
94 months ago
I can't help but think of that terrible Batman v Superman film whenever I see the names of court cases anymore.



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Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
velocityg4 Avatar
94 months ago
Sorry Qualcomm. Apple is now a big part of the US economy. As far as a single company is concerned anyway. Their sales and profit volume are too important. It would take a lot more than a simple patent dispute to convince the government to stop imports. Their net income is double your net sales. With Apple switching to Intel for their modems. Your net sales are going way down.

Even if Apple loses and has to pay. It will be many years from now. The victory will be a pyrrhic victory.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Quu Avatar
94 months ago
The judge cited "public interest factors" as one of the reasons why the court ruled against Qualcomm.
Aka the iPhone is too popular to block so we won't be doing that.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
djcerla Avatar
94 months ago
Common sense prevailed.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rom3o Avatar
94 months ago
‘Public interest factors’.. or in other words a US company in the US, [...]
Qualcomm is an US company, too. But probably not as popular as Apple. :)
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
keysofanxiety Avatar
94 months ago
Don’t forget this is the same Qualcomm that got fined for gross corruption and antitrust violations.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)