Apple avoids iPhone 6 sales ban in China after court victory

Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus designs don't infringe Baili's 100C smartphone rights

Apple has avoided having a sales ban in China after a ruling that Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus copied the design of a handset made by little-known company Baili was overturned.

Last June, the Beijing Intellectual Property Office ruled that Apple and its Chinese distributor Zhongfu Telecom infringed the patent of Shenzhen-based Baili, after it claimed that the iPhone 6 copied the design of its 100C smartphone.

"Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have minor differences from Baili's 100C. The differences are so tiny that the average customer could not notice. So this case falls into the patent rights protection category," the ruling said at the time.

Following the ruling, Apple was ordered to halt sales of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in Beijing immediately.

However, Apple promptly lodged an appeal, and on Friday the Beijing Intellectual Property Court removed the ban.

The court ruled that neither Apple or Chinese reseller Zoomflight had infringed on the Baili 100c handset, and noted that there was a lack of any proof that such an infringement took place.

In addition, it said that the regulator failed to follow due procedures while ordering the ban.

In its ruling the Beijing court said that the features of the iPhone 6 "completely change[d] the effect of the entire product" and made both phones "easily distinguishable in the eyes of consumers".

Apple is unlikely celebrating too hard, though, as its request that the Patent Reexamination Board of State Intellectual Property Office remove the design patent awarded to Shenzhen Baili Marketing Services for the 100c was rejected.

Last year, Apple's iTunes Movies and iBooks Store were handed a ban in China soon after launching in the country.

China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television blocked the services as part of a crackdown on online services owned by foreign companies that compete directly with similar offerings from Chinese companies.