Normally when we hear about Apple and the courts, it involves a lawsuit between Apple and Samsung. That’s not the case today, though.
The Beijing Intellectual Property Bureau has ordered Apple to stop selling the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in Beijing. The agency says that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus violate a Chinese patent owned by Shenzhen Baili that covers the design of the 100C, which you can see below.
Despite the fact that Apple has been ordered to stop selling the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in Beijing, both phones remain on sale there. That’s because Apple has appealed the decision, and so the phones may remain on sale while the decision is being reviewed. The company’s full statement is as follows:
“iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus as well as iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus and iPhone SE models are all available for sale today in China. We appealed an administrative order from a regional patent tribunal in Beijing last month and as a result the order has been stayed pending review by the Beijing IP Court."
We’ll have to wait and see what Beijing’s Intellectual Property Bureau decides in regard to Apple’s appeal, but for now at least, all of the Cupertino firm’s phones can remain on sale. Whatever happens, it’s interesting to see Apple become the target of a patent lawsuit related to design, especially considering that we often see Chinese smartphones with designs that emulate Apple’s iPhones.
What do you make of this news? Do you think the Beijing IP Bureau was right to order Apple to stop sales of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus for looking too much like the 100C?