Jury awards Qualcomm $ 31 million

Apple has violated three Qualcomm patents and is expected to pay the chip maker $ 31 million for violating its technology, a jury said Thursday, giving the chip maker new impetus as it entered a new legal skirmish with the iPhone manufacturer next month.

Qualcomm, which initiated the lawsuit in July 2017, alleged that Apple had used its technology without authorization in some versions of its popular iPhones. The jury awarded Qualcomm the full amount requested at the beginning of the two-week trial, which took place in San Diego.

A contested Qualcomm patent covers technology that allows a smartphone to quickly connect to the Internet once the device is turned on. Another concerns graphic processing and battery life. The third address technology that moves traffic between the application processor and the modem of a phone, allowing faster downloads.

The $ 31 million in damages is a drop of water in the bucket for Apple, a company that briefly became a $ 1 trillion company last year. But this is an important victory for Qualcomm, which has built its reputation as an innovator in the field of mobile components. This victory also gives credibility to the idea that much of the company's innovation is reflected in iPhones.

The verdict paves the way for a much-awaited lawsuit between the two companies slated for next month in San Diego. The dispute over Qualcomm's patent rights with Apple represents billions of dollars and will be a crescendo in the vast legal saga of the tech giants.

The clash between Apple and Qualcomm began two years ago when the Federal Trade Commission, with the help of Apple and Intel, accused Qualcomm of owning the monopoly of the modem chips. The FTC argued that Qualcomm's royalty rates prevented competitors from entering the market and raised prices for phones. This trial took place in January and the parties are currently awaiting a decision.

Next month's trial will also focus on Qualcomm's licenses.

The patent case that was settled on Thursday, chaired by US District Judge Dana Sabraw, is more technical and less publicized than other parts of the legal battle. This could still have consequences on the manufacture of your phone and its cost.

Both parties spent much of the trial fighting over the start-up patent. Apple argued that one of its engineers at the time, Arjuna Siva, had made an essential contribution to the technology and should also be on the patent. Apple said Qualcomm stole the idea when the two companies were working together to integrate Qualcomm chips into iPhones. The lawsuit took a dramatic turn last week when Siva, now working for Google, seems supported to appearthen reversed the decision at testify on Monday.

The jury overruled Apple's argument that Siva should have been named as an inventor.

Apple argued that the lawsuit was not just about patents. during closing argument WednesdayJuanita Brooks, an attorney at Apple, said the "real motivation" of the lawsuit was retaliation that led Apple to turn Intel into a second chip supplier in 2016. She said Qualcomm was upset that both companies had an exclusive relationship since 2011.

Now, Intel has completely replaced Qualcomm in iPhones.

"Qualcomm went into a drawer, dusted off old patents and threw them against the wall to see if they would get stuck," she said. In response, Qualcomm's lawyer, David Nelson, said, "We have the right to recover our intellectual property."