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By Stephen Nellis and Jan Wolfe
(Reuters) – Qualcomm Inc., the provider of mobile phone chips, on Friday won a legal victory against iPhone manufacturer Apple Inc. A jury said in San Diego federal court that Apple needed about $ 31 million to Qualcomm for violating three of its patents.
Last year, Qualcomm sued Apple alleging that it had violated patents to help mobile phones improve the life of their battery. During an eight-day trial, Qualcomm asked the jury to award him unpaid patent royalties of up to $ 1.41 per iPhone infringing patents.
The $ 31 million penalty is not very important for Apple, the second largest US company after Microsoft Corp, with a market value of $ 866 billion and annual sales of several hundred billion dollars . But setting a telephone royalty rate for Qualcomm's technology gives chip supplier a new line of sight in its two-year-old legal battle with Apple.
The biggest deal, filed by Apple early 2017, begins in April. Apple has sought to dismantle what it calls Qualcomm's illegal business model of licensing patents and selling chips to phone manufacturers. Qualcomm has accused Apple of using its technology without paying.
"The technologies invented by Qualcomm and others are what allowed Apple to enter the market and become so successful so quickly," said Don Rosenberg, General Counsel of Qualcomm, in a statement. . "We are pleased that courts around the world are rejecting Apple's strategy of refusing to pay for the use of our intellectual property."
In a statement, Apple said it was disappointed with the result.
"The ongoing campaign against Qualcomm's patent infringement actions is nothing more than an attempt to divert attention away from the vast problems they face in their investigations of their commercial practices in US federal courts. around the world, "said Apple. She refused to say if she would appeal.
In other cases against Apple, Qualcomm has obtained a ban on iPhone sales in Germany and China, although the ban in China is not enforced and that Apple has taken measures that, in his opinion, would allow him to resume sales in Germany.
Qualcomm also suffered a setback with US trade regulators who found that some iPhones were in violation of one of the San Diego-based company's patents, but refused to ban their importation into the United States , citing the damage that such a decision would inflict on their rival Intel Corp.
The verdict on Friday could come into play during the April trial because it gives a dollar figure by phone to Qualcomm's intellectual property. Qualcomm's patent licensing model is based on charging phone manufacturers a reduction in the selling price of the phone, a practice that Apple has deemed unfair and illegal.
In a previous test between Qualcomm and the US Federal Trade Commission, Apple executives described in-depth negotiations of their company to reduce license fees to $ 7.50 per phone for patent patents. Qualcomm.
The San Diego jury estimated Qualcomm's patent in the company's portfolio at only $ 1.41, a figure that the chip supplier believes reinforces its claim that its licensing practices are fair.
"The three patents found guilty of violation in this case represent only a small fraction of Qualcomm's valuable portfolio of tens of thousands of patents," Rosenberg said in a statement.
Gaston Kroub, a patent attorney in New York and not involved in the case, said the verdict was clearly a victory for Qualcomm. But that does not say much about the value of Qualcomm's entire patent portfolio and is unlikely to spark discussion for a settlement, he said.
"Apple is very adept at handling calls and adopting a long-term vision, which is not something that will bring Apple to the table with a sense of urgency," said Mr. Kroub.
(Report by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco and Jan Wolfe in Washington, edited by Richard Chang)
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