After being named in group legal filing expressing support for Apple in its case against Qualcomm, Intel has filed its own statement with the International Trade Commission. They claims that Qualcomm is not licensing its patents at a fair rate and thus is abusing its position in the industry. Continue reading after the break.
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In the filing, Intel refers to itself as "Qualcomm's only remaining competitor" in the mobile chip market, claiming that Qualcomm's motive with its legal battle against Apple is only to get rid of that competition. In their statement, Intel said:
Qualcomm did not initiate this investigation to stop the alleged infringement of its patent rights; rather, its complaint is a transparent effort to stave off lawful competition from Qualcomm's only remaining rival.
This twisted use of the Commission's process is just the latest in a long line of anticompetitive strategies that Qualcomm has used to quash incipient and potential competitors and avoid competition on the merits.
Intel goes on to say that Qualcomm has engaged in other monopolistic and anti-competitive practices. For example, Qualcomm offered Apple lower licensing fees for using its chips exclusively. Also, Intel says the Qualcomm engaged in the anti-competitive of "no license, no chips". This means that Qualcomm's forces manufacturers to pay "exorbitant" royalties for every device sold, regardless of the fact that it did not contain Qualcomm technology. Finally, Intel accuses Qualcomm of refusing to license its standard-essential patents to competitors, which is a violation under the "fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory terms".
In addition to Intel, Apple has received formal support from Google, Samsung, and Amazon. The ITC is expected to start examining everything next month, while a full trail is expected next year.
In addition to Intel, Apple has received formal support from Google, Samsung, and Amazon. The ITC is expected to start examining everything next month, while a full trail is expected next year.