Qualcomm says Apple, others owe billions of royalties

SAN DIEGO (CN) – A lawyer from chip maker Qualcomm said at a hearing on Friday that Apple and other contract manufacturers owed more than $ 7 billion in royalties for the company. 39; use of its technology in smartphones.

Qualcomm's lawyer, Evan Chesler, and New York-based Cravath Swaine & Moore cited the comments he made at the 2017 hearing to highlight the urgency of the situation. to resolve the ongoing dispute between the giants of telephone technology.

"They have $ 7 billion behind royalties," said Chesler.

"The house was on fire, it burned for two years and now there is $ 7 billion in property damage," he added, suggesting "we need to go to trial" .

Friday's hearing before US District Judge Gonzalo Curiel involved more than a dozen lawyers from Qualcomm, Apple and subcontractors such as Compal Electronics, all meeting to discuss Qualcomm's request to classify partially the antitrust case.

Last month, a San Jose judge certified a federal class action suit in a similar case involving more expensive claims for smartphones, because Qualcomm had increased the price of its chipsets used in cellular communications.

Qualcomm also is facing a $ 1.2 billion antitrust fine by the European Union and faces a lawsuit from the US Federal Trade Commission.

The apple attorney, Ruffin Cordell, of Fish & Richardson, based in Washington, explained Friday that "Qualcomm's primary goal is to avoid reviewing their patents".

"They had a mortal fear that this court or any court would render a judgment on the exhaustion of their patents," added Cordell, noting that if the court determined that one of the nine patents in question was exhausted, it would have a profound impact on the relationship. Parties. "

Cordell said that about 73% of Qualcomm's portfolio – which includes 130,000 patents – is out of stock and Apple and others want to recover the money they paid to Qualcomm for invalid, untranslated or exhausted.

Chesler insisted that the central issue of the case involved licensing agreements between technology giants and not necessarily individual patents. Qualcomm filed the motion to be dismissed for incompetence after US Justice of the Peace Mitchell Dembin last month granted Apple and the manufacturers' contract petition to strike excerpts from Qualcomm's expert opinion on counterfeit goods. nine patents in question.

Following the order by Dembin, Qualcomm signed an express agreement not to assert the nine patents, making the 56 claims relating to the non-infringement, nullity and enforceability of patents without foundation, according to Chesler.

Curiel has applied if he rejected the claims requested by Qualcomm after agreeing not to sue Apple and the others for the nine patents in litigation in the lawsuit, the parties should be allowed to amend their complaint to possibly add new patents to their case.

Chelser categorically rejected this scenario.

"We are not engaged in the game. We always thought that it was a conflict of license and not a patent. It's a dispute over the value of our portfolio and why they do not pay royalties. It is too late to amend the complaint to include additional patents. "

Another hearing in the case is scheduled for November 9.