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Apple claims Qualcomm's chip licenses are invalid

By Cookie Monster - on 21 Jun 2017, 12:00am

Apple claims Qualcomm's chip licenses are invalid

More than a month after Qualcomm went to the International Trade Commission to request for an import ban of the iPhones in the U.S, Apple launched a counterattack in a U.S federal court that Qualcomm's chip licenses are invalid.

Reuters reports that Apple is filing a new claim against Qualcomm with a new legal theory based on a ruling last month. Apparently, the U.S Supreme Court ruled against printer firm Lexmark in a patent dispute over another company's resale of its used ink cartridges. The new ruling will make it harder for manufacturers and drug companies to control how their products are used or resold. 

In the context of Qualcomm, Apple seeks to undermine Qualcomm's business model of having customers sign patent license agreements before purchasing its chips. This patent license agreement enables Qualcomm to take a portion of the sales of every device produced with its chips. Currently, Apple is being charged for both the patent license fees and per device sold. 

The legal battle started in January this year when Apple sued Qualcomm for US$1 billion over royalty fees. It followed up with two other lawsuits against the chip maker in China and another one in London. This resulted in Qualcomm countersuing Apple in the U.S two months ago.

Apple is said to be cutting its reliance on Qualcomm's radio modems for its future devices by sourcing alternatives from Intel. However, Intel is still working on a modem which can support 1 gigabit download speeds which might not be in time for the launch of the iPhone 8.

Source: Reuters 

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