China win for Apple as court overturns iPhone patent ruling
Beijing Court quashes city’s intellectual property bureau’s ruling that US tech giant had violated defunct Shenzhen firm’s design patent
A Beijing court has overturned a ruling that Apple’s iPhone 6 violated a Chinese manufacturer’s patent which saw the US tech giant ordered to cease selling the smartphone in Beijing.
In May last year the Beijing Intellectual Property Office ruled that Apple violated design patents of Chinese maker Shenzhen Baili with its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and would be barred from selling those models in the capital.
Sales, however, were not suspended while Apple appealed against the administrative order.
The Intellectual Property Court in Beijing on Friday ruled in favour of the California-based firm.
The court “quashes the decision of the bureau” and “recognises that Apple ... has not infringed the design patent filed by the company Shenzhen Baili”, according to the verdict reported by the People’s Court Daily.
The intellectual property office, an administrative body of Beijing municipality, had ruled that the two Apple phones infringed a Baili design patent.