Apple facing US import ban in latest ruling over Qualcomm patents

Apple devices could be banned from the US after a judge sided with Qualcomm in the latest round of the two companies' intellectual property dispute

The legal squabble between Apple and Qualcomm continued on Tuesday as the US International Trade Commission made two rulings.

While one judge agreed that Apple had infringed a patent held by Qualcomm and recommended a sales ban on certain iPhone models, another sided with the Cupertino, California-based company and threw the case out of court.

In the first case, judge Mary Joan McNamara came to the conclusion that Apple had infringed a Qualcomm patent related to battery management technology.

According to Qualcomm, the technology "improves power management in processor circuitry to reduce power consumption and improve battery life in mobile devices".

The company claims that the Apple-designed A10, A11 and A12 application processors, used in the iPhone 7 onwards, infringe upon this particular patent.

During the hearing yesterday, Judge McNamara said she will recommend that the Commission issue Apple with a Limited Exclusion Order.

If this goes ahead, it will result in imports of infringing Apple products into the US being halted. Apple would also be barred from selling its infringing devices in the US, as well as marketing, advertising, demonstrating and warehousing them.

Judge McNamara's decision has now been submitted to the Commission, with a decision on the recommendation expected by 26 July.

Don Rosenberg, executive vice president and general counsel for Qualcomm, said: "We are pleased that today ITC Judge McNamara found that Apple-designed processors infringe our ‘674 patent and will be recommending an import ban and cease and desist order to the Commission.

"The innovations we contribute to the iPhone extend well beyond a single component and Judge McNamara's decision, along with recent infringement rulings in other US and foreign courts, affirm the value of our technologies."

However, not everything went Qualcomm's way on Tuesday after a review panel sided with Apple on a battery-saving feature.

This case dates back to last September, when Judge Thomas Pender agreed that Apple infringed a Qualcomm power management patent but disputed two others.

He also didn't like the idea of banning iPhone sales, saying "the statutory public interest factors weigh against issuing a limited exclusion order as to products found to infringe the patents asserted in this investigation."

Qualcomm slammed the decision in a statement: "The Commission's decision is inconsistent with the recent unanimous jury verdict finding infringement of the same patent after Apple abandoned its invalidity defence at the end of trial. We will seek reconsideration by the Commission in view of the jury verdict."

A spokesperson for Apple said: "We're pleased the ITC has found Qualcomm's latest patent claims invalid, it's another important step to making sure American companies are able to compete fairly in the marketplace.

"Qualcomm is using these cases to distract from having to answer for the real issues, their monopolistic business practices."

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