India, June 27 -- Google has had a major setback in Japan, where a court has banned the sale of its Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro smartphones due to patent infringement. This ruling could soon affect the upcoming Pixel 8 and Pixel 9 models, which threaten Google's growing presence in the Japanese smartphone market.

The dispute centres on a technical part of 4G network communication involving the transmission of an "acknowledgement signal" or ACK between devices and base stations. This technique is protected by Japanese patent law. Although Pantech, the patent holder, no longer makes smartphones, its remaining patents continue to hold legal weight. The Tokyo District Court ruled that Google's use of this technology violated those patents.

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