Apple owes Qualcomm $31M, jury rules

SAN DIEGO — A jury has decided Apple should pay $31 million in damages for infringing on patents for technology owned by chipmaker Qualcomm that helps iPhones quickly connect to the Internet and extends their battery life.

The verdict Friday in a San Diego federal court follows a two-week trial that pitted two former allies that have become bitter adversaries. The trial is a fragment of a legal battle involving Apple and Qualcomm, which are sparring over who invented some of the technology used for key features in smartphones and other mobile devices.

The stakes will be much larger in another federal trial next month that will determine whether Apple should be required to pay Qualcomm for licensing other technology used in iPhones.

Apple had been paying the licensing fees until it stopped in 2017 and filed a lawsuit alleging that Qualcomm was abusing its dominance of the mobile-chip market to gouge smartphone makers for technology that it hadn’t even invented. That trial is scheduled to start April 15.

In the trial that just concluded, the jury unanimously agreed with Qualcomm’s contention that it should be paid $1.41 per iPhone relying on three of its patents. The damages date to July 6, 2017, when Qualcomm filed its lawsuit, and covers technology used in the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X.