IPhone Sales Banned In Colombia

'5G iPhones have been slapped with a sales ban in Colombia,' reports Digital Trends, 'due to a 5G patent infringement dispute between Apple and Ericsson... The ban affects the latest models, including the iPhone 12, iPhone 13, and the iPad Pro, which the court found infringed Ericsson's patent pertaining to 5G tech.'

They add that in response Apple is now suing Ericsson in Texas, 'for damages that resulted from the ruling in Colombia, as well as any fines, fees, penalties, and costs that have been incurred because of it.'
The site FOSS Patents notes that Colombia reached the 'banning' stage less than six months after the beginning of 'the current wave of Ericsson v. Apple patent infringement actions.' ZDNet explains:
The backstory here is somewhat complicated but can be boiled down to the following points:

- Apple used to pay Ericsson royalty fees for patented 5G technologies.
- Apple failed to renew the licenses when they expired.
- Ericsson sued Apple.
- Apple then sued Ericsson, claiming that the company was violating FRAND rules, the patents were standard-essential patents, and Ericsson's licensing fees were too high.

There followed a whole bunch of legal actions and counteractions, with both companies attempting to get sales bans on the other company's hardware....

This ban is likely no big deal for Apple given the small size of that market. The problem is several more lawsuits are making their way through various courts in various territories. And since Apple isn't disputing the validity of the patents, it's almost certainly opening itself out to bans being enforced in other countries.

Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader fermion for sharing the news!

Read more of this story at Slashdot.