China: Qualcomm and Apple to battle it out in specialist court

A series of experts on the Chinese courts, patent attorneys, and other specialists have weighed in on the Apple versus Qualcomm battle, and believe that resolution through the system is well more than a year away, assuming that an agreement is not reached before then reports Bloomberg.

The task of deciding who prevails in a dispute that could affect a million workers falls to a relatively new arm of the country’s judiciary. The Beijing Intellectual Property Court is one of three specialist venues in the Chinese judiciary set up to rule exclusively on such cases.

Two weeks ago Qualcomm made its case seeking to ban production and sale of iPhones in China. That wouldhit Apple in its biggest overseas market and the country where most of its products are made.

According to Bloomberg, the Beijing IP Court handles patent, trademark and some administrative cases involving copyright and unfair competition, with the power to issue injunctions and award damages. Its verdicts can be appealed to the High Court in Beijing.

“Qualcomm may think it’s good timing to file the case as Apple is slowly declining here in China,” said Jin Di, an analyst at IDC. “Neither side is apparently backing down and the best solution could be going back to the negotiation table.”

Full Content: Bloomberg

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