The courts of Beijing has handed Apple a win in a legal battle over the patent of the iPhone 6 design. On Friday, the courts ruled in favor of the American tech giant over a May 2016 ruling that cited Apple's violation of patent designs of a small, and now defunct, Chinese company called Shenzhen Baili Marketing Services. The initial complaint claimed that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus infringed on the design of Baili’s 100C model.
The disputes primarily focused on the exterior design of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models, which Shenzhen Baili claimed were a copy of their 100C smartphones. The Chinese company cites their phone's curved corners and other design features as basis for the infringement. However, since then, evidence has surfaced that the company “barely existed” at the time it filed the suit, and that its 100C smartphones were difficult to find.
In light of the uncovered facts pertaining to Apple's iPhone 6 patent case, a Beijing intellectual property court has decided that Baili had no grounds for its claim. Moreover, the court emphasizes that Baili's phone could be easily distinguished from the iPhone designs. Also, since Baili no longer manufactures phones, its remaining intellectual property has likely lost much of its value, the Fortune reported.
Initially, an injunction was handed to the company popularized by Steve Jobs to stop selling its latest iPhone line in Beijing. However, the American tech giant quickly filed an administrative appeal and was permitted to sell the phones until further review by the court. Since the Friday decision, Shenzhen Baili’s legal team has said it plans to appeal, the TechCrunch reported.
This latest legal win of Apple's iPhone 6 debacle provides a ray of hope that Chinese courts will not always rule in favor of home businesses. Chinese courts have recently caused some international community to raise their eyebrows when it allowed Xintong Tiandi to continue making leather goods using the “iphone” and “IPHONE” trademarks.
