Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC reportedly halted sales of its smartphones in the UK from its official channel, due to an ongoing IP dispute with research and development company IPCom.

BBC News reported the vendor had listed all of its in models the UK as out of stock on its website, although the news outlet said its phones are still available in other markets. They are also available on Amazon’s UK site.

A long-running dispute between HTC and IPCom relating to wireless technology for carphones has hurt HTC’s business in the UK. HTC said it would implement a workaround so it could continue to sell its phones.

However, following tests, IPCom found that a workaround was not in place and said HTC had showed a “disregard for the law by contravening a UK court ruling”.

HTC responded by stating it takes “intellectual property issues very seriously”.

“We are proactively investigating an infringement claim by a third party with respect to a single handset model,” said a representative.

HTC has notably struggled in the smartphone market in recent times, largely due to increased competition from low-cost Chinese players. In 2018, it sold part of its smartphone division to Google.