Apple and Qualcomm are at it again. Apple recently had accused Qualcomm of unfair patent licensing practices and Qualcomm has in turn accused Apple of patent infringement. Qualcomm revealed the amount of unpaid royalties by Apple in a hearing. The hearing was of one of the cases in a Federal court in San Diego. Apple however, have disputes about the amount. At this moment, the companies are involved in about 100 legal proceedings around the world. Qualcomm wishes 56 patents to be dropped and wants to follow the licensing dispute between the two companies instead. According to Qualcomm, Apple has $7 billion in unpaid chip royalty payments.
Apple’s Reply
Apple has, in a statement, said that for many years Qualcomm has unfairly insisted on charging royalties for technologies they have nothing to do with. The company has also accused Qualcomm stating that the more Apple innovates with unique features for phones, the more money Qualcomm collects. Apple claims that this makes it more expensive to fund these innovations. Apple has accused Qualcomm of building its business on older, legacy, standards. They claim that Qualcomm has reinforced its dominance through exclusionary tactics and excessive royalties. The smartphone giant also said that the latter insists on charging Apple at least five times more in payments. This is in comparison to all the other cellular patent licensors they have agreements with combined.
Also read: Apple Demands Bloomberg To Take Down Chinese Chip Hacking Report
A U.S. International Trade Commission administrative law judge had, in September, ruled in favour of Qualcomm, stating that Apple had infringed on a power saving patent to extend battery life in mobile devices. The judge had also said that this will not hinder Apple from selling their phones in the US. Apple also said that Qualcomm is withholding nearly $1 Billion in payments from Apple as ‘retaliation for responding truthfully to law enforcement agencies investigating them’.
