According to Bloomberg report, Qualcomm recently filed lawsuits in China in an attempt to stop Apple from selling and manufacturing iPhones in the country. Much of Apple's iPhone assembly process takes place in China, as does the manufacturing of many iPhone components. China is also an important market for Apple, accounting for 22.5 percent of Apple's sales in 2016.
In a filing with the Beijing intellectual property court on September 29, Qualcomm claimed patent infringement and requested injunctive relief. "Apple employs technologies invented by Qualcomm without paying for them," said a Qualcomm spokesperson about the filing. The lawsuits are based on three non-standard essential patents covering power management and the Force Touch technology.
Qualcomm Inc. filed lawsuits in China seeking to ban the sale and manufacture of iPhones in the country, the chipmaker’s biggest shot at Apple Inc. so far in a sprawling and bitter legal fight, Bloomberg News reports.
The fight between Apple and Qualcomm started back in January after the FTC filed a complaint which Qualcomm forced Apple to use its baseband chips for higher patent royalties. Apple followed with a $1 billion lawsuit against Qualcomm three days after the monopoly complaint. At that time Apple stopped paying licensing fees to Qualcomm, so did Apple suppliers.
Of course, Apple can't afford to lose the Chinese suits, as the iPhone is its primary revenue source, and the vast majority of units are assembled in China before being shipped elsewhere. Manufacturing in India is in its earliest stages, limited to the iPhone SE. It will likely take sometime before Chinese legal action makes progress. Apple will probably fight to have the cases dismissed if at all possible.
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