Apple, Intel persuade U.S. Patent Office to enter Qualcomm fight

“The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has decided to wade into a global licensing battle between Apple Inc. and Qualcomm Inc., with billions of dollars at stake,” Susan Decker and Christopher Yasiejko report for Bloomberg.
“The Patent Trial and Appeal Board agreed to consider the validity of two Qualcomm patents, according to notices posted on its electronic docket Tuesday,” Decker and Yasiejko report. “Apple and ally Intel Corp. had claimed the patents didn’t cover new inventions and the board conducted a preliminary analysis to determine if Apple had a ‘reasonable likelihood’ of winning its argument. The board will hear arguments from both sides and issue a final decision in about a year.”
MacDailyNews Take: The expeditiousness astounds.
“Apple and Intel, which makes the chips in the newest models of iPhones, have filed more than three dozen challenges at the agency. They are hoping to expose vulnerabilities in Qualcomm’s patent holdings,” Decker and Yasiejko report. “Apple has argued its former supplier unfairly leverages its position as the biggest supplier of chips for smartphones to force payment… The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has agreed with Apple’s view of Qualcomm licensing practices, and a trial over the government’s antitrust case is in its second week in San Jose, California.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Qualcomm is obligated, and should finally be forced, to license their technology on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms.
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