What you need to know
- A court prohibited Pixel 7 in Japan after deciding that Google used Pantech technology without appropriate license.
- The patented beef concerns how phones connect to cell towers, a LTE basic thing which is supposed to be fairly shared by the rules of the industry.
- The court described Google “not sincere” more than once, which has probably tipped the scales to a full sales ban.
A Japanese court has issued a prohibition to sell the Google Pixel 7 series, a major blow for the company, especially since Japan has become one of its main bastions outside the United States
According to a report of ETNEWSA Japanese court ruled that the Google Pixel 7 series has marked Pantech patents, so now these phones are officially outside the country’s shelves.
The court decision became Google using essential patent patents without appropriate license. These types of patents – such as that linked to the “mapping of control signals” for the LTE – are supposed to be shared fairly in the industry under Fund (just, reasonable and non -discriminatory). But in this case, the court said that Google has crossed the line.
Why the heavy hand?
Pantech claims that Google uses its patented method to find out how Pixel phones speak to cell towers without ever obtaining a license for this.
This type of decision is almost unknown in Japan, the media indicating that it is in fact the first time that a product ban has been transmitted to a standard patent problem.
So what really pushed things over the edge? The court was not impressed by Google’s attitude, the appellant “not sincere” more than once, which has probably played a big role in the prohibition of sales.
The timing softens, but Pantech is not made
With the Pixel 7 series approaching its third year, it is mainly at the end of the road. The Pixel 8 and the Pixel 9 have already been released, so this prohibition probably did not be very part of the current sales of Google in Japan.
In fact, Google has already pulled the Pixel 7 from its official store, so it is no longer to be won directly. However, Pantech does not let go and only takes a prohibition on sales on the most recent and best pixels in Japan.
Japan has become a key battlefield for Google. IDC data Shows that he seized the biggest gains on market share there, surfing a strong growth wave since the second quarter of 2023. At the end of the year, Google had managed a leap of 527% from one year to the other on one of the most difficult markets in the world.
If the prohibition spreads to new pixel models, it could strike Google much more difficult. It would be a blow, especially since the company is strong as one of the best players in Japan.
