Apple aims to upend royalty setup
Apple's court case seeking $1bn is a challenge to the way Qualcomm calculates its licensing fees
Washington/San Francisco — Apple has sued Qualcomm, accusing it of monopolising the market for chips for wireless devices and for withholding $1bn in retaliation for Apple’s co-operation with South Korean antitrust authorities. Apple is demanding Qualcomm hand over the money, which was supposed to be a rebate for licensing fees, according to the complaint filed in San Diego, where Qualcomm is based. Apple also wants back some of the billions of dollars it claims it was overcharged in "Qualcomm’s illegal scheme" to control the market for mobile phone chips. It wants a court to change how Qualcomm charges for its technology in the future. Qualcomm, the largest maker of cellphone chips, has been under fire by regulators the across the world for its patent licensing practices. The lawsuit, filed on Friday, is the first direct challenge by one of its biggest customers and threatens to upend how royalties are calculated by any owner of a patent on technology that underlies modern electron...
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