A Tokyo district court has ruled that Google is prohibited from selling, promoting, and importing the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro smartphones in Japan. This is the first time a sales ban has been imposed on a smartphone in Japan due to a standard essential patent dispute. The ban is a significant blow to Google's market share in Japan, where the Pixel series is the second-best-selling smartphone brand after Apple. The dispute centers around patents related to LTE technology, which is a crucial component of modern smartphones. Pantech, the Korean company that owns the patents, has filed a similar lawsuit against Google's Pixel 8 and 9 models, which may lead to an extension of the sales ban. The ruling has sparked concerns among tech enthusiasts and industry observers, who are waiting to see how Google will respond to the decision. In the meantime, Japanese consumers who were planning to purchase the Pixel 7 series may need to look elsewhere for their next smartphone.