US chipmaker Qualcomm is attempting to have the latest iPhone models banned in China after a preliminary ban was granted on older devices earlier this week.
According to reports, the sales ban was granted by a Chinese court in response to Apple violating two patents of Qualcomm, however, the ban has not yet been enforced and Apple is still selling the “banned” models on its Chinese online store.
Apple’s latest phone models — the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max — were also not part of the original patent dispute.
“We plan to use the same patents to file suit against the three new iPhone models,” Jiang Hongyi, a lawyer representing Qualcomm in its numerous patent suits, told the Financial Times.
Apple has claimed that the ban only applied to models running iOS 11 and earlier, and the banned models have been updated to iOS 12 — a point that hasn’t been held up by the Chinese court as the court’s order doesn’t mention any particular Apple OS.
Apple and Qualcomm are currently sparring in numerous patent disputes all over the world, and in several cases, Qualcomm has not been successful.
FT indicates that this latest move from Qualcomm may be an attempt to push Apple towards settlement talks, which Apple has repeatedly denied wanting to partake in “at any level”.
