Apple has now started legal proceedings against Qualcomm in China, according to a report out of Reuters which states the information was made public in a press release by Beijing’s Intellectual Property Court. According to the details, Apple is seeking 1 billion yuan in damages from Qualcomm, which roughly correlates to just over $145 million USD.
There seems to be two main grievances Apple has with Qualcomm in China, as Apple is reported to have filed two different lawsuits against the company. The first is that Apple accuses Qualcomm of abusing its position within the chip industry and in doing so, violating China’s monopoly laws. The second is that Apple alleges Qualcomm has not licensed its “standard essential patents” in a fair and affordable manner. Reportedly, asking the courts to ‘determine’ the terms of the patents in question.
Of course, this is not the first time that Apple has started legal proceedings against Qualcomm as it was only last week when Apple filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm in the US. One which also sought damages to the value of $1 billion, but this time in USD. With the details of that lawsuit differing slightly, as Apple accuses Qualcomm of holding back owed money as a means of ‘punishing’ Apple for assisting the South Korean authorities in a prior antitrust investigation involving Qualcomm. That is, in addition to claims that Qualcomm was overvaluing some of its patents and charging Apple an unfair amount in patent royalties. A move which Apple stated allowed Qualcomm to continue to exert its dominance on the chip market. Which coincidentally or not, hotly followed the news that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was filing charges against Qualcomm for anti-competitive practices in the US. So it does seem as though the timing on all of these suits are not coincidental. The lawsuit in the US was filed quickly after the FTC’s comments and in turn, these latest two lawsuits in China have been made public only a matter of days after the US lawsuit. Although, it is currently unclear as to whether the outcome of one will have a similar effect on the outcome of the others.