Apple and Intel persuaded The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: Join Qualcomm Patent Wars
According to Reuters, The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office decided to join the multi-billion dollar patent licensing battle between Apple and Qualcomm.
The agency's Patent Trial and Appeals Board decided to consider the validity of the two patents of Qualcomm. Apple and its ally Intel claimed that the two patents did not cover new inventions, and the committee also conducted a preliminary analysis to determine whether Apple had a "reasonable probability" to win the argument. The committee will listen to the arguments of both parties and will make the final decision within about one year.
This is only the first dozen of the dozens of challenges that Apple and Intel have launched for Qualcomm, and is just a few of Qualcomm's vast portfolio of patents in mobile communications. Qualcomm is the world's largest manufacturer of mobile phone chips, and many of its technologies support all modern mobile phone systems.
Intel provides chips for Apple's latest generation of iPhones, and the US Patent and Trademark Office has submitted more than 30 challenges. They hope to find a loophole in Qualcomm's patents.
Apple has been actively using the review board of the US Patent and Trademark Office. In this way, patents are challenged more quickly and at lower cost than appeals to federal courts.
Apple and Qualcomm are launching a global patent war because of licensing fees charged by the latter. Apple believes that the company that used to supply chips has improperly used its dominant market position to force it to pay. Qualcomm counterclaimed that Apple used its intellectual property but did not pay the fees. They believed that Apple initiated the lawsuit in order to force it to reduce the license fee.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) agrees with Apple's view of Qualcomm's licensing behavior, and the agency's antitrust lawsuit against Qualcomm has entered its second week.
Qualcomm said that Apple has not paid any fees to it for more than a year, causing it to lose billions of dollars in profits. Qualcomm will charge a percentage of the retail price of each handset, regardless of whether the device uses the company's chips. Apple believes that Qualcomm should charge the price of the parts, not the price of the entire phone.
The German court banned some iPhones in the country on December 20 last year. Prior to this, Chinese courts issued similar bans.
The agency's Patent Trial and Appeals Board decided to consider the validity of the two patents of Qualcomm. Apple and its ally Intel claimed that the two patents did not cover new inventions, and the committee also conducted a preliminary analysis to determine whether Apple had a "reasonable probability" to win the argument. The committee will listen to the arguments of both parties and will make the final decision within about one year.
This is only the first dozen of the dozens of challenges that Apple and Intel have launched for Qualcomm, and is just a few of Qualcomm's vast portfolio of patents in mobile communications. Qualcomm is the world's largest manufacturer of mobile phone chips, and many of its technologies support all modern mobile phone systems.
Intel provides chips for Apple's latest generation of iPhones, and the US Patent and Trademark Office has submitted more than 30 challenges. They hope to find a loophole in Qualcomm's patents.
Apple has been actively using the review board of the US Patent and Trademark Office. In this way, patents are challenged more quickly and at lower cost than appeals to federal courts.
Apple and Qualcomm are launching a global patent war because of licensing fees charged by the latter. Apple believes that the company that used to supply chips has improperly used its dominant market position to force it to pay. Qualcomm counterclaimed that Apple used its intellectual property but did not pay the fees. They believed that Apple initiated the lawsuit in order to force it to reduce the license fee.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) agrees with Apple's view of Qualcomm's licensing behavior, and the agency's antitrust lawsuit against Qualcomm has entered its second week.
Qualcomm said that Apple has not paid any fees to it for more than a year, causing it to lose billions of dollars in profits. Qualcomm will charge a percentage of the retail price of each handset, regardless of whether the device uses the company's chips. Apple believes that Qualcomm should charge the price of the parts, not the price of the entire phone.
The German court banned some iPhones in the country on December 20 last year. Prior to this, Chinese courts issued similar bans.