The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) will weigh in on an intellectual property dispute between Apple and the chip supplier Qualcomm over sales of iPhones found to infringe a Qualcomm patent, agreeing on Wednesday to reconsider whether the telecom giant’s asserted patent is obvious and whether an import ban against the iPhones would be appropriate, reports Law360.
Also, A federal judge has ruled that evidence provided by Qualcomm that major phone makers like Apple have moved to competing suppliers like Intel can’t be used to fight allegations the chip maker acted to preserve a monopoly on some mobile phone chips. The case, which began in 2017, is headed to trial in January, but the cutoff for the two sides to gather evidence ended in March.
In still more news regarding the battle, Apple says a Chinese ban on sales of the iPhone will force it to settle its licensing battle with Qualcomm. The smartphone maker, which has filed a request for consideration, argues the decision harms China’s interests by potentially raising the royalties and fees that phonemakers pay Qualcomm. The U.S. company was responding to a Chinese court that ruled this week Apple infringed two Qualcomm patents and issued injunctions against the sale of six older versions of the iPhone.
Speaking of the iPhone ban, Apple says it will push software updates to users in a bid to resolve potential issues. The company will carry out the software updates at the start of next week “to address any possible concern about our compliance with the order,” the firm said in a statement to Reuters.
