Apple sues Qualcomm over royalties conflict

Apple has sued chip designer Qualcomm for allegedly breaking the rules when licensing its patents. For example, Qualcomm must repay a billion dollars and significantly reduce royalties, Apple says.

Bloomberg reports about this, based on a lawsuit filed in the San Diego District Court, in the US state of California. According to Apple, Qualcomm is abusing its monopoly on the market for mobile chips. The chip designer owns a large number of patents that it licenses to tech companies, including Apple. He now accuses Qualcomm of withholding money that would be intended as a refund on previously incurred licensing costs.

By not paying this amount of about a billion dollars, or about 930 million euros, Qualcomm would like to punish Apple for cooperating with a judicial investigation in South Korea. There, Qualcomm was convicted of abusing its market position, for which it had to pay a hefty fine. The chipmaker can still appeal.

In addition to claiming the money, Apple is also committed to invalidating a number of patents in the field of wireless communication technology. If this does not work, the Cupertino company hopes to be able to lower the royalties it has to pay for the use of the patents. In response, Apple said that while Qualcomm is just one of many companies to have contributed to the development of wireless standards, it charges five times the royalties on the use of its patents than other companies that issue such patents. Qualcomm, in turn, said it will pay Apple the requested amount “if Apple withdraws and corrects its statements to government agencies.”

With the lawsuit, Apple follows the decision of the US Federal Trade Commission, which also believes that Qualcomm is abusing its position in the chip market. According to the FTC, Qualcomm signed an exclusive deal with Apple, which reduced competitors’ chances of gaining market share. Similar lawsuits are also pending in Europe.