Bad news for Google Pixel fans in Japan – the popular smartphone has been hit with a ban. The reason behind this decision is still unclear, but it has left many users in the country feeling disappointed and frustrated.
Google has been prohibited by a Japanese court from selling Pixel 7 series smartphone models in the country, claiming that the company infringed a patent. It is so because Pixel phones are becoming increasingly popular in Japan, where they have now ranked second behind Apple.
A new report emerged that concluded that the court has found Google to have violated a patent on control signal mapping technology. The patent describes how the acknowledgment signal (ACK) is transferred from a base station to a device in an LTE network, and the given patent is the fundamental aspect of 4G communications. The court established that the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro used the technology without authorization.
Due to this decision, Google cannot sell, import, display, or transfer the Pixel 7 series phones in Japan anymore. The legal reaction and the attention paid by Google to the legal case were also criticized by the judge, who claimed that the attitude of Google was unfriendly and was labeled to be insincere towards the judicial case that led to the decision to ban the sales.
Google Pixel 7 Pro.
What is worse is that the problem might not end even at this stage. The complainant company, South Korean Pantech, is additionally attempting to extend the prohibition to the Pixel 8 and then the Pixel 9 ranges as well. It is yet to be seen whether these attempts will be successful or not, but it piles on pressure on Google in one of its most promising foreign markets.
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Japan has also become a special destination for Pixel. At the end of 2023, despite such competition, Google boasted good results in the country where the Pixel 7 line and the low-cost Pixel 7a were very popular, as we already wrote about. An expanded ban may halt such momentum and eventually affect sales.
The company that took part in the case, namely Pantech, does not produce smartphones anymore. The lawsuit was brought by IdeaHub, an organization that specializes in patent monetization. Pantech has been quiet in the smartphone business, but it is also using its intellectual property in courts as a weapon against its enemies.){kind=tracking}
At the moment, nothing besides the Pixel 7 series is compromised. However, as more models might have been under evaluation, there will be increased pressure put on the Google presence in Japan. We are going to follow the development of this story, as well as whether there will be more Pixel devices involved in the controversy.
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