Apple has bigger fish frying in the world of intellectual property. But it must be a relief that an IP court in Beijing has handed the smartphone pioneers a win. On Friday, the courts overturned a May 2016 ruling that said Apple had violated design patents of a small, and now defunct, Chinese company called Shenzhen Baili.

The disputes were over the exterior design of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models, which Shenzhen Baili claimed were a copy of their 100C smartphones, curved corners and all. The company “barely existed” at the time it filed the suit. And its 100C smartphones were impossible to find.

Initially, Apple was handed an injunction to stop selling its iPhone 6 line in Beijing, but it quickly filed an administrative appeal and was permitted to sell the phones there again until further review by the court. Damage was likely minimal. Apple was switching up  to iPhone 7 when this IP drama first arose, as TechCrunch’s Sarah Perez noted at the time.

Since the Friday decision, iin press interviews, Shenzhen Baili’s legal team has said it plans to appeal. Apple representatives were not immediately available for comment.

Apple has lost market share in China in recent years to up and coming device makers from Xiaomi to BBK Electronics’ brands Oppo and Vivo more recently. However, it has remained the most profitable player in the market. Specifically, as the Motley Fool reports, “In 2016, Apple captured an incredible 79% of global smartphone industry profits with just 14.5% market share.”

The latest IP decision indicates that China courts will not always rule in favor of home town businesses, at least. Another ruling had raised concerns over protectionist precedents.

Last spring, a court allowed leather goods makers Xintong Tiandi to continue making bags using the “iphone” and “IPHONE” trademarks in China. Xintong Tiandi had registered to use the brand name in 2007, while Apple’s smartphones did not go on sale in China until 2009. Apple hadn’t registered the brand specifically to cover leather goods.

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Apple on Tuesday announced an iPad update, a red iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, and a new video-editing app for iOS.

The iPad upgrade has a 9.7-inch, 2048 x 1536-pixel Retina display with 264 pixels per inch, and Apple's A9 64-bit processor.

The unit will come in silver, gold and space gray with a starting price of US$329 for 32 gigabytes of storage and WiFi-only support. It will cost $459 for a 32-GB unit with WiFi and cellular support.

As with prior models, the battery life for the new iPad is 10 hours. It has an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and 1.2-MP front-facing FaceTime unit.

The new iPad is available for order on Mach 24 from Apple's website and will be in Apple Stores next week.

With the latest upgrade, Apple's iPad lineup looks like this: iPad Pro 12.9 inch ($799); iPad Pro 9.7 inch ($599); iPad 9.7 inch ($329) and iPad mini 4 ($399).

Not Quite an Air Replacement

Although the latest iPad replaces the iPad Air 2 in Apple's tablet lineup, it doesn't quite supplant it.

"It falls somewhere between a new device and the old device," said Carolina Milanesi, a principal analyst at Creative Strategies.

"They upgraded the most important thing on the device -- the processor," she told TechNewsWorld. "Not only will the performance be better, but other components, like the camera, will be snappier."

Pricing is also an outstanding feature of the new iPad, Milanesi said, noting that "$329 for a 9.7-inch device is very aggressive."

Prying Old iPads from Users' Paws

Attractive pricing may tempt some iPad owners to upgrade their old hardware.

"The replacement cycle for iPads is getting really long," said Mikako Kitagawa, a principal research analyst with Gartner. "If you have a 3- or 4-year-old iPad, you may want this upgrade."

The pricing also could attract some new users into the Apple universe.

"They're going to stretch the iPad's market into the mid-range tablet market," Kitagawa told TechNewsWorld.

Competitive pressure also may play a role in Apple's new entry-level tablet pricing.

"It's an interesting strategic move for Apple," said Rhoda Alexander, director of tablet and notebook research at IHS Markit.

"They've held that $499 introductory price on the 9.7 for seven years now," she told TechNewsWorld. "That price is way above the competition, so this is a realigning of the product to bring it to a more competitive price point.

The lower price point for the iPad could gin up some additional iPad sales, "but not as much as many believe," said Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy.

"The biggest challenge to large tablets are Windows two-in-one laptops and touch Chromebooks," he told TechNewsWorld.

A Red iPhone

Apple introduced red versions of its iPhone 7 and 7 Plus to celebrate the company's 10-year partnership with (RED), an organization that funds programs to help prevent the transmission of HIV from mothers to unborn babies.


Apple customers can contribute to the Global Fund to fight AIDS with iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus (PRODUCT)RED Special Edition.

A portion of the sales of the RED iPhone will go to the organization, to which Apple has contributed more than $130 million during the partnership.

Slated for availability in Apple Stores on Friday, the RED iPhone pricing will start at $749 for a 128-GB model.

Video Editing With Clips

Apple also announced Clips, a new video-editing app. The software is designed to combine photos, video and music without timelines or complicated tools.


Real-time filters, emoji and other effects available in Clips can add fun to any photo or video.

Its LiveTitles feature lets you use your voice to create animated titles and captions. As you speak, titles appear on the screen perfectly synced to your speech. You can edit titles with a tap.

Comic book filters are included, as well as support for speech bubbles and shapes. You can use the software to create full-screen posters with animated backgrounds too.

Dozens of music soundtracks are available for the content you create with the app. What's more, the app automatically trims them to fit your production.

Available in April, Clips runs on iOS 10.3 and is compatible with the iPhone 5s or later, all iPad Air and Pro models, the iPad mini 2 and above, and the iPod touch 6th-generation model. 

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