Apple v. Ericsson patent trial will take place a month after Ericsson v. Apple one

The Apple vs Ericsson patent trial saga continues. We learned a couple of days ago that the Ericsson case against Apple would be heard in June of next year. This is where Ericsson accuses Apple of patent infringement in the 5G chips used in the latest iPhones.

We’re today learning that Apple’s countersuit, accusing Ericsson of infringing Apple patents in its base stations, will be heard the following month, in July. So far, things are still not looking good for the Cupertino company…

Foss Patents has the latest development.

A couple of days ago, it became known that Judge Rodney Gilstrap scheduled an Ericsson v. Apple FRAND trial in the Eastern District of Texas for June 2023 […]

On Thursday, Judge Gilstrap also entered a routine scheduling order in Apple v. Ericsson (FRAND countersuit) according to which that trial would start on July 10, i.e., shortly after the Ericsson v. Apple trial, which starts in early June, would presumably conclude.

There’s bad news for Apple on a couple of fronts. First, the Cupertino company is trying to get Ericsson’s case dismissed, and it wanted to hold an early case management conference as part of its efforts to achieve that. The scheduling of both cases for next year, to give both sides time to prepare for a full-on court battle, makes that attempt look unlikely to succeed. A pre-trial conference will take place in March, but that appears to be to agree on procedural matters and not hear a motion to dismiss.

Second, Ericsson has made some progress in its own attempt to have an import ban imposed in regard to Apple’s alleged patent infringement.

There is also some procedural progress in Washington, D.C. at the United States International Trade Commission (“USITC” or just “ITC”). As I expected two days ago, the ITC instituted investigations of Ericsson’s three ITC complaints (U.S. import ban requests) against Apple.

Naturally, Apple in turn wants an import ban on Ericsson base stations, and it seems likely to at least succeed in getting a corresponding ITC investigation opened.

All-in-all, things are getting messier.