Apple Files $1 Bln Lawsuit Against Qualcomm

(RTTNews) - Apple Inc. (AAPL) has filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) on Friday, accusing the chipmaker of charging royalties for technologies it has nothing to do with and for not paying about $1 billion in promised rebates.

According to Apple, the maker of iPhones, as it innovates with unique features such as TouchID, advanced displays and cameras, Qualcomm collects royalties for no reason and thus, it becomes more expensive for Apple to fund these innovations.

Apple accused Qualcomm of charging it at least five times in payments than all the other cellular patent licensors that Apple has agreements with combined. Qualcomm is a key supplier of modem chips to both Apple and Samsung Electronics Co. (SMSN.L, SSNNF.OB, SSNLF.OB).

"To protect this business scheme Qualcomm has taken increasingly radical steps, most recently withholding nearly $1B in payments from Apple as retaliation for responding truthfully to law enforcement agencies investigating them," Apple said in a statement.

"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," Apple added.

Qualcomm responded on Saturday by saying that Apple's claims are "baseless".

Don Rosenberg, executive vice president and general counsel of Qualcomm said, "Apple has been actively encouraging regulatory attacks on Qualcomm's business in various jurisdictions around the world, as reflected in the recent KFTC decision and FTC complaint, by misrepresenting facts and withholding information."

"We welcome the opportunity to have these meritless claims heard in court where we will be entitled to full discovery of Apple's practices and a robust examination of the merits," Rosenberg added.

Apple's lawsuit comes after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission or FTC said earlier this week that it filed a lawsuit, charging Qualcomm with using anticompetitive tactics to maintain its monopoly in the supply of a key semiconductor device used in cell phones and other consumer products.

In December 2016, the Korea Fair Trade Commission or KFTC fined Qualcomm about 1.03 trillion South Korean won or about $865 million, saying it found certain of Qualcomm's business practices in violation of Korean competition law.