Apple’s legal battle with Qualcomm has gone international.
The iPhone maker on Wednesday filed two lawsuits against Qualcomm in China, according to Reuters , which cited a press release from Beijing’s Intellectual Property Court.
The first alleges that Qualcomm « abused its clout in the chip industry, » a violation of China’s anti-monopoly law. Apple seeks 1 billion yuan ($145.32 million) in damages, Reuters said.
The second accuses Qualcomm of not making its cellular standard essential patents available broadly and cheaply. It asks the court to determine the terms of a patent license between Qualcomm and Apple.
Qualcomm said in a statement that it hasn’t yet seen the complaints but had seen the court’s press release. Don Rosenberg, executive vice president and general counsel of Qualcomm, said:
Apple referred CNET back to its comments about Qualcomm from Friday. Its statement said, in part, that « Apple believes deeply in innovation and we have always been willing to pay fair and reasonable rates for patents we use. We are extremely disappointed in the way Qualcomm is conducting its business with us and unfortunately after years of disagreement over what constitutes a fair and reasonable royalty we have no choice left but to turn to the courts. »
The lawsuits in China come only days after Apple filed a suit against Qualcomm in the US and about a week after the US Federal Trade Commission accused Qualcomm of forcing Apple to use its chips exclusively in exchange for lower licensing fees.
