Apple wins iPhone 6 patent litigation in China
The Beijing Intellectual Property Court has overturned a ruling by the Beijing Intellectual Property Office concerning the alleged infringement claim of a Chinese smartphone manufacturer that the iPhone 6/+ infringed on their patents. The BIPC overturned the ruling on Apple’s (AAPL) appeal of the claims made by Shenzhen Baili Marketing Services (pvt) last June for which the BIPO granted an injunction that would have halted iPhone 6/+ sales in China. Apple immediately appealed, staying the injunction.
The BIPC overturned the original decision, stating that its phone could easily be distinguished from the iPhone 6, but Baili is expected to appeal the recent BIPC decision. Shenzhen Baili Marketing Services seems to be almost non-existent at this point however, with its website deleted, no working phone, and no current offerings, but in what seems to be a Hail Mary effort to gain some financial ground, took on the largest consumer electronics company in the world, in an environment well-known for favoring local vendors and governmental policy over IP law.
While China has ruled against foreign vendors in many IP cases, and Chinese companies are regularly accused of copying non-Chinese IP, there has been some small movement toward a more realistic approach to IP as China gains ground as a worldwide exporter of consumer products. In the display space, there is considerably more pressure on Chinese companies to both pay attention to and license IP from other companies, as the desire to expand outside of China makes it necessary for acknowledging foreign IP. While there will always be the disagreements as to specifics on a product by product basis, Chinese IP law has at least made some progress toward playing by international rules, rather than its own self-interest. Baby steps, but steps nonetheless.
The BIPC overturned the original decision, stating that its phone could easily be distinguished from the iPhone 6, but Baili is expected to appeal the recent BIPC decision. Shenzhen Baili Marketing Services seems to be almost non-existent at this point however, with its website deleted, no working phone, and no current offerings, but in what seems to be a Hail Mary effort to gain some financial ground, took on the largest consumer electronics company in the world, in an environment well-known for favoring local vendors and governmental policy over IP law.
While China has ruled against foreign vendors in many IP cases, and Chinese companies are regularly accused of copying non-Chinese IP, there has been some small movement toward a more realistic approach to IP as China gains ground as a worldwide exporter of consumer products. In the display space, there is considerably more pressure on Chinese companies to both pay attention to and license IP from other companies, as the desire to expand outside of China makes it necessary for acknowledging foreign IP. While there will always be the disagreements as to specifics on a product by product basis, Chinese IP law has at least made some progress toward playing by international rules, rather than its own self-interest. Baby steps, but steps nonetheless.
Baili 100C - Source: Narada News
iPhone 6 - Source: 9 to 5 Mac
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