Due to the ongoing patent infringement war between Apple and Ericsson, 5G iPhones have gotten banned from being sold in Colombia. Ericsson is accusing Apple of infringing on their 5G patents.
According to a Colombian court in BogotaDevices, the iPhone 12, iPhone13, and the iPad Pro have been banned from being sold. Apple is currently unable to import or export Apple devices out of the country and is also restricted from advertising the listed devices in Colombia. To guarantee compliance, Apple must “warn and communicate” with local stores, merchants, social media platform owners, media outlets, and e-commerce platforms.
Retrieved by Kārlis Dambrāns via Flickr.com
Previously, Apple paid Ericsson royalty fees to use their patented 5G technology, but it failed to renew the licenses when they expired. In the sequence of events, Ericsson accused Apple of patent infringement.
Apple filed a lawsuit against the Swedish enterprise in December 2021, alleging that it had breached FRAND rules, that the patents were standard-essential, and that the license fees were too high. Since then, both sides have filed additional lawsuits to gain import restrictions on their respective products in international markets, including Colombia.
One of the many lawsuits arising internationally regarding the patents occurred in Colombia. This includes lawsuits in the U.K, the U.S International Trade Commission, issues with a Brazilian distributor, and many other European lawsuits.
