Apple has suffered another legal defeat at the hands of Qualcomm, this time in Germany. The German courts have ruled in favor of the semiconductor company Qualcomm. As a reminder, Apple has allegedly infringed on hardware patents Qualcomm owns. As such, the older iPhones that contain patent-violating hardware will be lifted from German shelves. Apple’s three latest iPhones, the XS, XS Max, and XR will not been affected.
This is Apple’s second legal defeat in less than a month, coming off the stinging decision made by the Chinese courts that also ruled in Qualcomm’s favor. Apple has had a rough year, and having to lift millions of phones off the shelves won’t be doing their bottom line any favors. Apple’s latest iPhones have not been well received, so this definitely will make things harder for the tech giant. Apple only has 15 retail stores in Germany, so this decision isn’t nearly as harmful as the loss in China, but it looks like Apple may be on the verge of a legal losing streak.
As with the Chinese decision, Apple is planning on making an appeal, but it is doubtful that they will be successful.. The enforcement process of the ban will begin after Qualcomm pays roughly $766 million dollars as a bond.
