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Chinese court overturns iPhone 6 ban that could have barred sales in the country

Beijing Intellectual Property Court rules in favour of Apple

Chinese court overturns iPhone 6 ban that could have barred sales in the country

Apple has won a court battle against Chinese firm Shenzen Baili to continue sales of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in China following an earlier ruling to ban it.

As reported by the BBC, the Chinese company had alleged Apple’s smartphones infringed on the design of its own 100C devices.

China’s patent regulator then subsequently backed Shenzen Baili’s claims and banned Apple and its reseller Zoomflight from selling the smartphones. The ban was suspended while Apple appealed the decision.

Overruled

The Beijing Intellectual Property Court has now overruled that ruling, however, and Apple is free to continue selling the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in the country.

The court said China’s patent regulator had failed to follow proper procedure when it made the initial decision, that Apple did not infringe on Shenzen Baili's phone designs and patents, and that consumers were unlikely to be unable to distinguish between each company's devices.

Despite the ruling, there is still a chance that Shenzen Baili and Beijing’s Intellectual Property Office may appeal the decision and attempt to reinstate the ban.

Apple has discontinued the manufacture of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models, and last year released the iPhone 7 across the globe, including in China.


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Craig Chapple is a freelance analyst, consultant and writer with specialist knowledge of the games industry. He has previously served as Senior Editor at PocketGamer.biz, as well as holding roles at Sensor Tower, Nintendo and Develop.