Qualcomm announced a win Monday in its ongoing and multijurisdictional legal battle with Apple.
The San Diego chipmaker said a Chinese court has ordered four Apple (NASDAQ: [[ticker:AAPL]]) subsidiaries in China to stop the sale and import of seven iPhone models in that country. Qualcomm (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QCOM]]) said the court had granted two preliminary injunctions against the subsidiaries over patents the San Diego company said Apple had violated.
The patents Qualcomm accuses the smartphone maker of unlawfully benefiting from relate to how people edit photographs and how they use the device’s touch screen to manage mobile applications, the company said. The patents were previously approved by the Chinese patent office, according to Qualcomm.
“We deeply value our relationships with customers, rarely resorting to the courts for assistance, but we also have an abiding belief in the need to protect intellectual property rights,” said Don Rosenberg, Qualcomm executive vice president and general counsel, in a prepared statement.
The models barred from sale and import are the iPhone 6S, 6S Plus, 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus, and X, the company said.
Following the ruling, Apple told CNBC that it has filed an appeal to overturn the sales ban.
Apple sued Qualcomm in early 2017 for $1 billion, accusing Qualcomm of charging exorbitant royalty fees. Apple has withheld payment while the company argues its case in court.
Qualcomm has responded by filing lawsuits against Apple in multiple countries over patent infringement claims.
