According to a report by Bloomberg, Qualcomm is preparing to ask the United States International Trade Commission for an import ban on iPhones. Apple recently refused to pay royalties to Qualcomm.
After Apple’s frivolous refusal to pay royalties to Qualcomm, preceded by a billion-dollar lawsuit in the US and a billion-yuan lawsuit in China, the American chipmaker might be considering the nuclear option against Apple.
According to a report by Bloomberg, Qualcomm is preparing an appeal asking the United States International Trade Commission (ITA) to block iPhone imports into the country.
The past couple of years have been tough for Qualcomm, legally speaking. In February of 2015, the chipmaker paid 900 million dollars to settle an anti-trust dispute in China, in December it paid 800-million-dollars to settle an anti-trust dispute in South Korea, and in January the FTC sued it for bullying the industry.
The root of Apple and Qualcomm’s feud can be found with Qualcomm’s cellular communications technology patents that licensees acquire for a hefty royalty fee that Apple recently decided to withhold. Why is Apple withholding Qualcomm’s royalty fees? An investor asked Apple CEO Tim Cook the same question at Apple’s earnings call this week, and he responded:
Apple, with the iPhone 7, also started using Intel’s modems, but didn’ t abandon Qualcomm entirely. In tests, iPhones with Qualcomm’s modems were not only establishing a stronger LTE connection but also provided an overall 30% increase in performance.
Just days after FTC sued Qualcomm, Apple followed with three lawsuits, first in the US, then in China, and finally in the UK. In March, Qualcomm countersued Apple, alleging that the iPhone-maker misrepresented its chips’ performance against Intel.
The USITC may seem like the next logical step after these recent court disputes, but it remains unconfirmed at the time of this writing. In an email to Mashable, USITC Public Affairs Officer Peg O’ Laughlin said that “no complaint has been filed with the Commission at this time.”
Qualcomm and Apple’s feud is a convoluted mess, but it has only just started to unfold.
Source: Mashable, Bloomberg, BGR
