It has been over a year since Qualcomm initially sought an import ban on some iPhone models, but it turns out that won’t be coming to pass.
As Reuters reports on Friday, a United States trade Judge has declined to block iPhone imports into the United States. Specifically, the judge declined to block the importation of iPhones with Intel chips inside:
“A U.S. trade judge on Friday declined to block the importation of Apple Inc (AAPL.O) iPhones with chips from Intel Corp (INTC.O), handing a major defeat to Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) in its high-stakes legal dispute with the iPhone maker.”
Back then, Qualcomm requested the U.S. International Trade Commission to block the import of specific iPhone models, including the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and the iPhone X for AT&T’s and T-Mobile’s networks. Qualcomm’s argument was a patent infringement case, where Qualcomm said Apple infringed on multiple patents.
For what it’s worth, the judge did determine that Apple did infringe on a patent related to power management technology, a ban on importation of those aforementioned models would not happen citing “public interest factors”.
Things had gone pretty quiet between Apple and Qualcomm until very recently. Qualcomm has accused Apple of providing source code to Intel, which is one of Qualcomm’s primary competitors. However, even with that out there, Qualcomm’s CEO has high expectations that the market will prevail, and Apple will begin working with the company again soon.
Source: iphonehacks