Apple threatens to halt sales of ‘5G iPhone and iPad’ in Colombia
According to Foss Patents, a Colombian court banned Apple’s 5G mobile phone iPhone and iPad from selling and importing early this month. This is because it judged that this product violated the patent of Swedish telecommunication company Ericsson.
The legal dispute between Ericsson and Apple began in 2015. Apple filed a lawsuit with Ericsson regarding third-generation (3G) mobile communication and Long Term Evolution (LTE), saying Ericsson demanded an excessively high level of royalties.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. federal courts, the International Trade Commission (ITC), Germany and the United Kingdom. A year later, in 2016, Apple concluded by agreeing to pay 0.5% of iPhone and iPad sales to Ericsson as patent fees.
The two companies signed a 5G patent license contract in 2015. The contract ended in December 2021.
Since then, Ericsson has claimed that Apple is using Ericsson’s 5G patent technology without permission, even though the contract expired without agreeing on the terms and scope of the new license. In addition, Apple filed a complaint with the Eastern District Court in Texas in December last year, claiming that it had set unfair principles to receive excessively low royalties. Apple also filed a countersuit with the same court, saying Ericsson made an unreasonable demand.
Since then, the two companies have filed a series of lawsuits in courts such as ▲ Germany, ▲ the Netherlands, ▲ Brazil, ▲ Colombia, and the United Kingdom.
The Colombian court’s decision is the first since Ericsson’s lawsuit. The target products are ‘iPhone 12 Series’ and ‘iPhone 13 Series’. However, the Colombian court’s decision to ban sales and imports is in the preliminary injunction stage. Apple appealed against the decision.