The Munich District Court has granted QUALCOMM permanent injunctions against Apple, banning sales of iPhone models 7, 8 and X series (case No.s 7 O 10495/17 and 7 O 10496/17), for infringing patents related to “envelope tracking”, a feature that helps mobile phones save battery power while sending and receiving wireless signals. The Court ruled that phones that contain a combination of chips from Intel and Qorvo (a supplier to Apple) infringed the patent.

 

QUALCOMM must post a record security of EUR668m per case if the orders are to be enforced pending appeal. This is to cover potential losses of Apple should the judgments be overturned or amended.

 

This success for QUALCOMM in Germany followed hot on the heels of wins in the Chinese court in Fujian, in which QUALCOMM was awarded preliminary injunctions against Apple under certain patents that enable iPhone users to adjust and reformat the size and appearance of photographs, and to manage applications using a touch screen when viewing, navigating and dismissing applications on their phones.

 

 

You can find this article and others in our newsletter: Patent Issues Spring 2019