The San Diego-based chip maker Qualcomm is getting sued for $1 Billion by Apple, on the foundation of the following argument: “charging royalties for technologies they have nothing to do with,” on which, Qualcomm denies the allegation and describes it groundless. This lawsuit follows the complaint filed against Qualcomm earlier this week, focusing on inappropriate practices of patent licenses.
Apple Inc. adds by stating that Qualcomm has been active with malpractices all over the years and have been “withholding nearly $1 billion in payments from Apple as retaliation for responding truthfully to law enforcement agencies investigating them.” Over which, they also accuse Qualcomm for illegally charging Apple with royalty, even on matters that aren’t directly related to Qualcomm at all. For instance, Apple reports being charged a large royalty for upgrading the storage capacity of an iPhone from 128GB to 256GB.
The California based company adds:
“Apple believes deeply in innovation and we have always been willing to pay fair and reasonable rates for patents we use. We are extremely disappointed in the way Qualcomm is conducting its business with us and unfortunately after years of disagreement over what constitutes a fair and reasonable royalty we have no choice left but to turn to the courts.”
“To protect this business scheme Qualcomm has taken increasingly radical steps, most recently withholding nearly $1B in payments from Apple as retaliation for responding truthfully to law enforcement agencies investigating them.”
On this, Qualcomm responds stating that they were in the process of assessing Apple’s complaint in depth. However, Qualcomm denies any such handiwork and calls Apple’s allegation to be “baseless”. Qualcomm’s General Counsel and Executive Vice President Don Rosenberg mentions in a declaration:
“Apple has intentionally mischaracterized our agreements and negotiations, as well as the enormity and value of the technology we have invented, contributed and shared with all mobile device makers through our licensing program,”
Stay tuned as we keep you updated further on the aforementioned lawsuit.
