Qualcomm plans to seek an immediate stay and appeal of a federal judge’s ruling that the company violated antitrust law related to its licensing practices.
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh sided with the Federal Trade Commission in her decision finding Qualcomm unlawfully “strangled competition” in the modem chip market by charging excessive licensing fees and unreasonably high royalties for its patents, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Qualcomm on Wednesday disagreed with the decision and announced the company will seek an expedited appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
“We strongly disagree with the judge’s conclusions, her interpretation of the facts and her application of the law,” said Don Rosenberg, executive vice president and general counsel of Qualcomm, in a statement.
Qualcomm also wants to stay the district court’s judgement, which in part ordered Qualcomm to negotiate or renegotiate licensing agreements with customers without the use of tactics deemed unfair, including threatening to cut off access to its chips. Qualcomm must also license patents to rival chipmakers at fair prices and is not allowed to sign exclusive chip supply agreements with smartphone makers like Apple.
The iPhone maker just last month settled a similar lawsuit against Qualcomm, which concluded with Apple agreeing to continue paying licensing fees, signing a multiyear chipset supply agreement, and making a one-time payment to Qualcomm. The same day, Intel separately announced it was exiting the 5G smartphone business and halting plans to launch any 5G modem products, saying it had become apparent there was “no clear path to profitability.”
With the latest ruling, Qualcomm will also be subject to monitoring for the next seven years.
