Qualcomm and Apple are engulfed in a major legal battle since last year which has seen the latter stop all royalty payments to the San Diego chipmaker. Now, Qualcomm says that Apple owes it $7 billion in royalties since it first stopped making payments to it.
Qualcomm’s lawyer says that by withholding their payments, Apple is trying to destroy the chip maker’s business. It has asked the court to drop 56 patent-related claims from the lawsuit.
“They’re trying to destroy our business,” Qualcomm lawyer Evan Chesler said at a hearing Friday in federal court in San Diego. “They’re now $7 billion dollars behind in royalties. The house is on fire and there is $7 billion of property damage right now.”
Apple has used its power to stop royalty payments to not just Qualcomm but has also asked its suppliers to stop paying money to the chipmaker. This has put Qualcomm in a troubled spot as Apple and its suppliers are one of its largest customers. The battle between the two companies has seen Apple completely switch to Intel modems for its 2018 iPhone lineup.
Apple has accused Qualcomm of unfair business practices while Qualcomm is accusing the former of patent infringement. It has even gone so far ahead to claim that Apple shared its confidential modem source code with that of Intel to help improve its modem development.
[Via Bloomberg]
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