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Qualcomm has lost an offer to block the sale of certain iPhone 7 models in the United States, even though Apple is breaking one of its patents.
An administrative law judge from the US International Trade Commission ruled Friday that Apple had violated an energy-saving patent intended to extend the battery life of mobile devices .
Despite this, Judge Thomas Pender said it was not in the public interest to ban the sale of certain iPhone 7 models in the United States, as Qualcomm wanted.
Qualcomm can still argue for the ban on the International Trade Commission as a whole, but Pender's decision is a blow to his efforts to take the upper hand in his vast legal war against Apple.
"We are delighted that the administrative law judge has found a violation of our patented technology, but it makes no sense to allow counterfeiting to continue by refusing an import ban," said Don Rosenberg, General Counsel of Qualcomm. "This goes against the ITC's mandate to protect US innovators by blocking the importation of counterfeit goods."
Rosenberg added that Qualcomm "looks forward to a complete review of the ITC commission in the coming months and continues to pursue more than 40 other patent infringement cases that we have filed against Apple globally."
Last year, Qualcomm filed a patent infringement complaint with ITC seeking to block the sale of iPhone 7 models containing Intel's cellular modem chips that operate on AT & T and T-Mobile.
Qualcomm is the market leader in high-end cellular modem chips that connect smartphones to cellular stations and the wider wireless network. Originally, Apple accused Apple of violating six patents, but that number was reduced to three just before a trial by Pender in June.
In his decision Friday, Pender found that Apple did not infringe on the other two patents.
The ITC does not have the power to impose financial penalties. It can only block the importation of counterfeit goods in the United States.
Before taking this step, however, it must take into account "the public interest", especially if the prohibition would harm competition or consumers.
Apple has argued that an import ban could force Intel to leave the cellular modems sector – giving Qualcomm an even more dominant position in the market.
Qualcomm retorted that Intel had spent billions of dollars to develop 4G and 5G technologies, and that it was highly unlikely that it would divest itself of that investment.
In the end, Pender found that "the statutory public interest factors weigh against the issuance of a limited exclusion order," according to a summary of the decision posted on the ITC website.
Apple applauded Pender's decision.
"Qualcomm has continued to unfairly charge royalties for technologies with which it has no connection with the protection of its monopoly," the company said in a statement. "We are pleased that the ITC has stopped Qualcomm's attempt to harm competition and harm American innovators and consumers."
Qualcomm and Apple are waging a fierce legal war in intellectual property courts around the world. This shows no sign of impending end. On Monday, Qualcomm raised the bar by accusing Apple of stealing proprietary software and providing it to Intel so that it could develop more competitive cellular modem chips for smartphones.
Qualcomm brought a patent infringement action and lawsuit against Apple in Germany, China, the United States and elsewhere. Many of these cases will be judged later this year or next year.
Apple claims that Qualcomm is using its dominance of the modem chip market to force smartphone makers to pay too much for the use of their cellular inventions. He stopped paying patent fees to Qualcomm and designed Qualcomm's chips on the latest iPhone models.
Qualcomm responds that its cellular technologies are the cornerstone of iPhones. Without them, iPhones would be glorified iPods, which sell much less.
According to analysts, Apple was paying between $ 15 and $ 20 per phone for the use of Qualcomm's patents.
Qualcomm has a second case of infringement against Apple pending at the ITC. It involves three additional patents. A lawsuit was held earlier this month, during which Apple likely invoked similar public interest arguments about a possible ban on harming Intel and competition in the modem market cell.
Pender is retiring from the ITC. A new administrative law judge is expected to publish his initial findings in the second case in January.
Shares of Qualcomm ended trading Friday up 32 cents to $ 72.03 on the Nasdaq stock market.
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