Qualcomm files new patent complaints against Apple

Qualcomm said yesterday it filed three new patent infringement complaints against Apple, saying there were 16 more of its patents that Apple was using in its iPhones.

The new complaints represent the latest development in a long-standing dispute and follows Apple's countersuit on Wednesday against Qualcomm, which alleged Qualcomm's Snapdragon mobile phone chips infringed on Apple patents.

Apple declined to comment on the new cases, referring to its earlier claims in its Wednesday filing that the company has developed its own technology and patents to power its iPhones.

Qualcomm in July accused Apple of infringing several patents related to helping mobile phones get better battery life.

That case accompanied a complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) seeking to ban the import of Apple iPhones that use competing Intel chips because of the alleged patent violations.

The three cases filed on Thursday were all filed in US District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego. One of the cases is a companion civil lawsuit to a new complaint also filed on Thursday with the ITC that seeks the same remedy of banning iPhones with Intel chips. The other two cases are civil patent infringement lawsuits.

The dispute between Apple and Qualcomm over patents is part of a wide-ranging legal war between the companies.

In January, Apple sued Qualcomm for nearly $1 billion in patent royalty rebates that Qualcomm allegedly withheld from Apple.

In a related suit, Qualcomm sued the contract manufacturers that make Apple's phones, but Apple joined in to defend them.

Qualcomm in November sued Apple over an alleged breach of a software agreement between the companies. Apple e-mailed Qualcomm to request "highly confidential" information about how its chips work on an unidentified wireless carrier's network, Qualcomm alleged, but Apple had copied an Intel engineer in the e-mail for information.

Separately, Qualcomm is facing a lawsuit from the US Federal Trade Commission over many of the same pricing practices Apple names in its complaints.

Copyright 2017 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication and redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

---