Chipmaker Qualcomm has won a patent dispute against phone giant Apple.
Following a ruling in the District Court of Munich, Apple will no longer sell iPhone 7 and 8 across German stores and websites.
The court ruled that Apple phones were infringing on Qualcomm’s intellectual property related to power saving technology in two of its older smartphones.
Qualcomm was required to post a $1.34 billion security bond with German courts before it would take effect.
Apple’s German website no longer features the iPhone 7 and 8, listing only the newer models such as the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max.
The court has also ordered Apple to recall infringing iPhones from third party resellers.
Contrary to the ban, Apple assured that “all iPhone models remain available to customers through carriers and resellers in 4,300 locations across Germany,” and has plans to appeal the ruling.
The injunction is the latest development amidst an ongoing feud between Apple and Qualcomm. The California-based phone maker sued Qualcomm in the United States and in China, accusing the company of extortion and anticompetitive conduct in its negotiations over patent licensing.
In December, Qualcomm won a Chinese lawsuit that forced Apple to recall its products due to a copyright infringement. The court ruled that Apple had violated two of Qualcomm’s software patents specifically related to resizing pictures and managing applications.
To lift the ban, Apple released a small update to its iOS version 12.1.2, which contains software changes exclusive to China.
Following the hearing, Apple described the ban as “another desperate move by a company whose illegal practices are under investigation by regulators around the world.”
