Qualcomm accuses Apple of Deadbeat Status with $ 7 billion royalty on unpaid chips

Apple and Qualcomm are not exactly friends, but in a way, both companies need each other. IPhones are among the best selling smartphones in the world and Qualcomm certainly wants to participate in this commercial action. Apple needs Qualcomm modems because they generally outperform the competing hardware of Intel and MediaTek, and its customers want the best hardware for their money. Apple has recently searched for materials from other sources. The company recently implemented Intel modems in its latest generation of iPhones and has threatened to use MediaTek in the past. And now, Qualcomm accuses Apple of not paying its bills. The company claims that Apple has $ 7 billion in late payments in royalties.

Apple has one of the largest cash reserves in the world, which allows it to pay its bills, but has simply chosen not to do so. It is interesting to note that in early 2017, Apple filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm, alleging extortion and paying it $ 1 billion in arrears. Evan Chesler, a Qualcomm lawyer, said at a hearing in a San Diego court last week that Apple was "trying to destroy our company." Chesler went on to say that Apple had $ 7 billion in late payments in royalties.

Qualcomm wants to cut 56 patents of its claim against Apple because it says that these patent claims are one way to resolve the licensing dispute between the two companies. Apple disputes the validity of many patents that Qualcomm wishes to withdraw from the lawsuit. Apple has long claimed that Qualcomm was charging too much for its essential technology patent licenses and that Qualcomm was trying to obtain license fees for a technology that it did not possess.

Apple said about Qualcomm in 2017: "Qualcomm has built its business on older, more traditional standards, but is strengthening its dominance with exclusionary tactics and excessive royalties."

Apple and Qualcomm are currently fighting over a hundred court cases around the world. Apple claims that Qualcomm uses its intellectual property to force its customers to pay excessive royalties, while attempting to evade a patent challenge procedure used by Qualcomm to force such royalty payments. Apple's lawyer, Ruffin Cordell, told the San Diego court judge last week: "You can not let Qualcomm deviate from that." It seems that Apple is considering invalidating as many Qualcomm patents as legally possible. This legal exchange of fire could continue for years.