Appleā€™s legal battle against Qualcomm

Taiwanese manufactures have joined Appleā€™s legal battle against Qualcomm, claiming the chipmaker violates anti-trust laws and charges steep fees for patent licenses.

In July, Qualcomm asked the US government to ban new iPhones from coming into the country; The United States Federal Trade Commission sued Qualcomm for anti-competitive practices.

Qualcomm was Appleā€™s primary supplier for smartphone modems, yet they didnā€™t have a direct patent deal; instead, Apple paid licensing fees to Foxconn Technology, Compal Electronics, Pegatron Qualcomm and Wistron Corp, who directly paid Qualcomm.

Apple stopped making payments to the four manufactures after suing Qualcomm in January for US$1billion, making the ā€œmanufactures involvement in the legal tussle seemingly inevitableā€.

Qualcomm said in a recent statement that it ā€œnever withheld or threatened to withhold chip supply in order to obtain agreement to unfair or unreasonable licensing termsā€.

The multinational technology company is said to be filing a separate motion to strengthen the manufacturerā€™s countersuit with its own, according toĀ The Verge.

Written by Leah Alger

More
articles