Qualcomm settles case with Taiwan
TAIPEI/SAN FRANCISCO: Mobile chipmaker Qualcomm Inc will settle an anti-trust case with Taiwanese regulators for about US$93 million (RM379.44 million), and has also pledged to invest US$700 million in Taiwan over the next five years.
The settlement replaces a fine of roughly US$778 million imposed by Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission last year, when it accused the United States firm of refusing to sell chips to mobile handset makers that wouldn’t agree to its patent-licensing terms.
It was also accused of cutting iPhone maker Apple Inc a royalty discount in exchange for the exclusive use of Qualcomm’s modem chips in the past.
Under the settlement, Qualcomm will have to provide reports every six months to Taiwanese officials for five years to show it is negotiating in good faith with handset makers in patent-licensing deals.
Moreover, Qualcomm will be required to offer patent licences to rival chipmakers such as Intel Corp and MediaTek Inc on fair terms before seeking to enforce its patent rights against them in court.
Qualcomm also is in the midst of appealing a US$927 million fine from the Korea Fair Trade Commission and a US$1.2 billion fine from the European Commission. It also faces a suit from the US Federal Trade Commission and is in a wide-ranging legal dispute with Apple.
As part of the Taiwanese settlement, Qualcomm will continue to be allowed charge a royalty based on the selling price of a handset — a core part of its licensing model that Apple and others have objected to.
Because the settlement replaces the original decision and fine, other anti-trust regulators and legal foes will now be less likely to be able to use the commission’s findings as a basis for their own legal actions.