Designing smartphones is not an easy undertaking: it is necessary to follow a few rules to do so. Among these, the question of respecting the intellectual property of other manufacturers is a key issue in order to avoid being caught by the authorities. However, it just so happens that Apple has just lost a major lawsuit for having violated the patents of another well-known company:Ericsson.
It is in Colombia that the case has just been closed by the court ofBogota, where the Swede accused Apple of having copied its 5G modem technologies. They are found in many devices: iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini,l’iPhone 13 Pro Max, l’iPhone 13 Proand the third-generation iPhone SE.
Millions of fewer potential customers
Ruling in favor of Ericsson, the courts decided to prohibit Apple from selling all of its 5G products in Colombia. THEtabletsare also affected since the fifth generation iPad Pro 12.9 inch, third generation iPad Pro 11 inch, fifth generation iPad Air andthe sixth generation iPad minialso have access to this network. Likewise, Apple is obliged to stop imports of the items in question into the region as well as any physical or online promotions. It is up to the culprit to also notify all resellers and other partners who have until now sold the affected iPhones and iPads.
In Colombia, Android remains the majority operating system to this day with 88% market share according toStatCounter. But iPhones are in second position with almost12% of the sector, which still represents more than ten million inhabitants if we do not take their age into account.
Apple reacts
Unsurprisingly, Apple asserted through its lawyers its right toto appealof this historic decision in South America. The media, however, consider it unlikely that a second round will end in its favor, because the local justice system has already planned to block the company's efforts in this scenario. Instead, it now appears that the defense is trying to seek damages to offset several billion dollars in potential profits.
