And it continues. Qualcomm has announced that it’s posted security bonds totaling €1.34 billion required for Qualcomm to be able to enforce the remedies ordered by the District Court of Munich on Dec. 20, 2018, after the court found that Apple is infringing Qualcomm’s patented power savings technology used in smartphones.
Apple was ordered to cease the sale, offer for sale and importation for sale of all infringing iPhones in Germany. The court also ordered Apple to recall infringing iPhones from third party resellers in Germany. As you’d expect, Apple said it plans to appeal the ruling.
This is the latest chapter in the ongoing battle. In January 2017 Apple sued Qualcomm, alleging the chip supplier demanded unfair terms for its technology (which the company, of course, denied). Around the same time, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint in a federal district court charging the supplier of baseband processors with using anticompetitive tactics to maintain its monopoly in the supply of a key semiconductor device used in cell phones and other consumer products.
Qualcomm claims it went out of its way to offer alternative licensing (which Apple rejected), and that, in suing Qualcomm, Apple is motivated by reducing the cost to make iPhones.
