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Dispute between Apple and Imagination continues over disclosure timing

By Cookie Monster - on 11 Jul 2017, 12:00am

Dispute between Apple and Imagination continues over disclosure timing

Image source: Apple

The dispute between Apple and supplier Imagination Technologies continued over the weekend. 

Earlier last week, Imagination CEO Andrew Heath revealed to investors during a conference call that the company was only informed by Apple at the end of March about its decision not to license the intellectual property (IP) for the GPU in the next 15 - 24 months.  Only after it had sufficient clarity on Apple's position did Imagination disclose the news on 3rd April. Imagination added that it was surprised by Apple's sudden decision as both companies actually signed a multi-year licensing agreement with confidentiality clauses in February 2014 which prevented it from commenting. 

"Imagination has commercial discussions all the time with all of its customers, including Apple," Imagination said.

However, Apple insisted that Imagination knew about its decision to scale back the relationship for nearly two years. In a statement to Bloomberg, Apple said that it informed Imagination in late 2015 that it would not be buying the latest technology. In 2016, Apple initiated a clause in the contract which allows the company to pay a lower royalty rate for using a smaller amount of IP. In February this year, Apple made it clear to Imagination that it would not be making any more royalty payments as early as 2018.

“We began working with Imagination in 2007 and stopped accepting new IP from them in 2015," Apple said. "After lengthy discussions we advised them on February 9 that we expected to wind down our licensing agreement since we need unique and differentiating IP for our products. We valued our past relationship and wanted to give them as much notice as possible to adapt their future plans."

Imagination has filed a dispute process with Apple in May with an aim to reach an agreement through a more structured process. The company even put itself up for sale after receiving interest from several parties for a possible acquisition. 

Source: Bloomberg

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