Federal judge sanctions Apple for $300,000 in ongoing brouhaha with Qualcomm

A federal magistrate judge in California said Friday he’ll sanction Apple to the tune of $300,000 for missing a document production deadline in antitrust suits brought against Qualcomm by the Federal Trade Commission and a putative class of cellphone buyers, reports Law360.

In December Apple was ordered to pay $25,000 each day it failed to produce evidence related to an FTC case against Qualcomm. U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins said the tech giant had until Dec. 29 to turn in the documents or the amount would increase. And it has.

Last week Apple asked a California federal court to nix a $25,000-per-day fine, arguing that the sanctions imposed by a magistrate judge last month for delays in producing documents in the antitrust litigation against Qualcomm were unduly harsh. Obviously, he judge disagreed.

In January Apple filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm, the world’s dominant supplier of baseband processors, alleging the chip supplier demanded unfair terms for its technology. However, Qualcomm denies the allegations and says Apple wouldn’t have an iPhone business if it weren’t for fair licensing of the company’s essential tech.

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.