Qualcomm and Apple launch their second lawsuit for an iPhone import ban



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A demonstration of Apple's new iPhone XR is visible after the launch of the product at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California, United States on September 12, 2018. REUTERS / Stephen Lam
A demonstration of new Apple products is presented after the launch of the product in Cupertino
Thomson Reuters

By Stephen Nellis and Jan Wolfe

(Reuters) – A second test between Apple Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. before the US International Trade Commission began Monday in Washington, with the iPhone maker against the world's largest mobile chip maker. in the USA.

Apple and Qualcomm are engaged in a broad legal dispute in which Apple has accused Qualcomm of unfair patent licensing practices. Qualcomm, the world's largest manufacturer of mobile phone chips, has in turn accused Apple of patent infringement.

Monday's lawsuit is the second of two lawsuits filed by Qualcomm against Apple within the ITC, in which it asks trade judges to ban the importation of certain iPhone models. containing Intel Corp. modem chips

Import bans are rare, and Apple would have time to change the design of its devices to avoid patent infringement that courts could find. But Apple has come to rely more on Intel for modem chips, officials of Qualcomm announced in July investors that its chips were not included in the latest iPhone models.

. In the United States, at the first court hearing that ended in June, a US lawyer recommended to the judge that Apple had infringed at least one Qualcomm patent and that some Intel smartphones should be banned on the Internet. US market. But the lawyer said that models with what is called 5G, the next generation wireless network, should be allowed to keep the 5G chip market competitive.

ITC staff acts as a third party in these business affairs. The opinions of salaried lawyers are not binding, but judges often follow them. A decision in this case is expected later this month.

Monday's trial began with three patents. Two of them relate to how Intel's modem chips handle radio signals, and one of them relates to how Apple's processor chips work. put their iPhones to sleep.

While blocking iPhones is a radical step, Apple would have several chances to appeal this decision, including the US President Donald Trump. In 2013, the then president, Barack Obama, canceled the ban on some Apple iPad and iPhone resulting from a dispute with Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

The most consequential consequence of the ITC's business is that Qualcomm checks to see if its patents are confirmed by a judicial review. She is suing Apple for several of the same patents in civil suits that take longer to be processed, and the ITC case may give a quick indication of how these civil suits might succeed.

(Report by Stephen Nellis, edited by Dan Grebler)

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