Apple takes a dig at Qualcomm
• iPhone maker steps up legal fight and says rival has exhausted its rights to some patent royalties
Apple said in a legal filing that there was “mounting evidence” Qualcomm was operating an “illegal business model” designed to extract high patent royalties on every wireless device sold.
Apple said in a legal filing on Tuesday that there was “mounting evidence” Qualcomm is operating an “illegal business model” designed to extract high patent royalties on every wireless device sold.
The iPhone maker said it was adding more allegations to a complaint filed in January that accuses Qualcomm of trying to monopolise the chip market for wireless devices. The new claims, provided to Bloomberg News and scheduled to be filed on Tuesday in federal court in San Diego, add to what was already an ugly fight between two of the most profitable technology companies.
Apple found “continuing — and mounting — evidence of Qualcomm’s perpetuation of an illegal business model that burdens innovation”, according to the filing. It claims some of the patents that Qualcomm wants to get paid for are invalid and that Qualcomm has not fulfilled its obligation to charge fair and reasonable rates on patents related to industry standards.
The amended lawsuit highlights a May US Supreme Court ruling that limited the ability of patent owners to control the use of their products after they are sold, so they do not get paid twice for the same invention.
Apple wants the right to argue that Qualcomm has exhausted its rights to some patent royalties.
Qualcomm sells the chips it makes, but also licenses its technology. As a result, it gets a cut of every phone sold, whether they have Qualcomm chips or not. “This is precisely the kind of double-dipping, extra-reward system that the court’s decision” sought to eliminate, Apple argued.
Qualcomm has said it is Apple that has been dealing unfairly. In an April filing, Qualcomm accused Apple of lying to regulators to spur investigations, breaching contractual pledges and misrepresenting facts.
In a filing to the Supreme Court, Qualcomm sought to distance its licensing practices from the issues before the high court, which involved the ability to resell used printer cartridges.
The company described itself as a “research and development engine for the entire mobile industry”. Qualcomm said it did not require companies to buy its chips, but that all must pay for the technology used as part of the industry standard.
Apple directed its suppliers to stop paying Qualcomm, which in turn asked a US court to order those payments be made. Qualcomm said revenue may be down more than $1bn a quarter because of the withheld payments. The amendments on Tuesday delve more deeply into the contract relationships, as Apple seeks greater ability to challenge the terms that Qualcomm demands.
The contractors are paying Qualcomm royalties on products they make for companies other than Apple. A hearing on Qualcomm’s request is scheduled for August 15.
There is no dispute that Qualcomm revolutionised how mobile devices communicate, enabling the transformation of phones into devices that can be used to watch movies, surf the web and play video games.
At issue is how much Qualcomm should be paid. Apple says phones are more than just the transmission of data or phone calls, yet Qualcomm wants to get paid as if it had a role in creating the latest camera technology or touch screen.