The chip group Qualcomm must in its patent dispute with Apple a setback in Germany, plug it in. The regional court of Mannheim decided that iPhones infringe Qualcomm’s patents to circuit technology and dismissed the lawsuit.
Qualcomm immediately announced an appeal against the decision. The chip group had reached in December with another Patent, a sales ban of several older models of the iPhone in Germany. Apple took the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 out of its Stores and its Online offer and appealed against the verdict.
The dispute began about two years ago, when Apple accused its supplier Qualcomm in a lawsuit brought by excessive and unfair License requirements for patents. The chip group countered with the accusation of patent infringement. In addition to Germany, there are procedures in China, a process in California is scheduled for mid-April.
a Parallel process to the application of the US Competition authority FTC against Qualcomm, in which it is the business model of the chip group-and thus also the relation to the Apple – and – runs in California.
On Monday, the FTC took the Apple executives Jeff Williams to the witness stand, for the operative business of the group responsible. Williams confirmed that Apple will find it unfair, that Qualcomm wanted to have for a license on its patents, five percent of the unit price. Because that means, for example, that if Apple spend per device $ 60 more for a stainless steel or aluminum housing, so that 3 dollars for Qualcomm would be due, even if the chip group have nothing to do with it.
Williams’ testimony also showed that Apple had reached an agreement with Qualcomm in the launch of the first iPhone in 2007, instead of the five percent to a lower fixed Rate of 7.50 dollars per phone. Which was regulated in such a way that the iPhone, order a paid of finished the full Qualcomm-claim, the amount then Apple came for and Qualcomm and then Apple paid a portion back.
Later, Apple had the lower Rate to keep only because the group have entered into an Exclusive agreement, according to which only a cellular modem Qualcomm based. According to Williams, Apple has been able to get since the beginning of the dispute, not Qualcomm Chips for the new iPhone models. It remained unclear what exactly the conversations about it have failed. Apple should be able to offer a phone with the new 5G wireless by 2020, until appropriate Chips of Qualcomm rival Intel are ready.
According to Williams’ statement, and the FTC brought E-Mail from a Qualcomm-Manager of the chip group was in addition, as a condition of the original Deal that Apple does not bring any devices with the Wimax wireless technology. Especially from the Intel-supported Wimax was intended as an Alternative to conventional cellular networks, but could not prevail.
dpa
