Apple’s Latest Drama With Chinese Regulators

Apple hasn’t quite smoothed out its regulatory issues in China.

While CEO Tim Cook has been visiting China recently to smooth issues over, the dispute now between Apple and regulators in China centers around a patent dispute between Apple and one Chinese company. According to reports on the matter, Beijing’s intellectual property authority said the iPhone 6/6 Plus infringed upon a patent.

As a result, Apple was ordered to halt the sale of this phone in Beijing. But because the order is still in the appeal stage, Apple said that all of its phones are still for sale in the city. The design that Apple allegedly copied is being compared to Shenzhen Baili and its 100C smartphone.

Apple has fought other battles in China during the past year, which included enhancing its cybersecurity requirements in the region. It has also had various disputes over content licenses and patents.

In May, Cook met with propaganda officials in the country — not all that long after online book and film businesses tied to Apple were shut down. Apple, in turn, has refused to comply with requests by the government to hand over source code. And through it all, despite business in the region declining by more than 25 percent year over year in the latest quarter, Cook stated that China is still “more stable” than might be surmised and remains a country where Apple remains optimistic.