Japan is an important market for Google. According to data from StatCounter, Google currently ranks second with a market share of 5.81%, far behind the Apple iPhone with a gigantic 62.46%, but just ahead of Samsung and Xiaomi. However, smartphones from the Pixel 7 series have been banned from retail sales there due to a patent dispute with South Korean mobile phone company Pantech.

As MLex reports, a district court in Tokyo has ruled that Google has infringed a standards essential patent relating to the LTE modem in Pixel smartphones. Such patents are required for manufacturing products, which is why they must be licensed under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory conditions. According to Pantech, Google has been using the exact method described in the patent to handle communication between Pixel smartphones and cell towers, but did not license the patent.

The court stressed that preliminary injunctions for standard essential patents (SEP) are only possible if the defendant has not attempted to obtain a license for the respective patent. Google had delayed negotiations and insisted on conditions such as a confidentiality clause, which Pantech argued was completely unnecessary. Google also refused to propose a “reasonable” royalty rate during the proceedings, claiming that calculating it would be “too complex”.

After Google refused to provide the court with data on the sales figures of Pixel smartphones in Japan, the sales ban on the Pixel 7 series was imposed. Pantech has already filed a lawsuit to halt sales of the Pixel 8 and Pixel 9 as well as the corresponding Pro models. If Google is unable to reach an agreement with Pantech, the company may be forced to withdraw from the Japanese market