How the EU patent fees are stirring up a tech tiff between Apple and Qualcomm
Brussels — The EU is drawing up guidelines on how much patent holders should charge for their technology, a thorny issue that pits Apple and other users against Qualcomm and Ericsson. Trillions of dollars in sales are at stake as regulators ponder whether a fridge maker should pay a different rate to a car maker for crucial patents, or whether a flat, fixed rate would be fairer. The patent fee model used by the world’s leading smartphone chip designer Qualcomm, which bases royalties on a product’s total cost, predominates in the technology industry but is opposed by Apple and others in Silicon Valley. Other models are in use and the EU aims to set a uniform one for Europe, opening a new front in a global dispute that has already seen several lawsuits between Apple and Qualcomm. Antti Peltomaki, deputy director-general at the European Commission, told a conference last week the EU hopes to finalise its guidelines by the end of 2017. The move is part of the bloc’s broader push to set ...
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