- Apple Inc and its allies on Monday will kick off a jury trial against chip supplier Qualcomm Inc in San Diego, alleging that Qualcomm engaged in illegal patent licensing practices and seeking up to $27 billion in damages.
Filed by Apple in early 2017, the lawsuit in federal court revolves around the modem chips that connect devices like the iPhone or Apple Watch to wireless data networks. Qualcomm has spent the past two years mounting a pressure campaign of smaller legal skirmishes against Apple, seeking - and in some cases obtaining - iPhone sales bans for violating its patents.
For Qualcomm, the trial, along with similar allegations from U.S. regulators in a January court hearing, will determine the fate of its unique blend of selling chips and licensing more than 130,000 patents. Qualcomm requires device makers to sign a license to its patents before it will supply chips, which it views as a commonsense measure to ensure it does not do business with companies violating its patents. But Apple and other device makers around the world have called the “no license, no chips” policy a form of “double dipping” - that is, charging for the same intellectual property once during licensing discussions, and then again in the price of the chips where the patents are embodied.