Apple is Countersuing American multinational semiconductor and telecommunications Equipment Company Qualcomm over claims it’s snapdragon mobile phone chips infringes on its Patents.
Back in June, Qualcomm had filed a lawsuit claiming Apple infringed on several of its patents that help mobile phones get better battery life, and Apple’s new counterclaim is that it owns eight patents pertaining to battery life that Qualcomm is violating.
According to Apple its innovations that make sure components only draw the minimum required power and turning off unused parts of the processor are being used in Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 and 820 processors, which are found in Samsung and Google devices. “Apple began seeking those patents years before Qualcomm began seeking the patents it asserts against Apple in this case,” the new filing reads. In the light of this, Apple said it is seeking unspecified damages from San Diego-based Qualcomm.
It is worthy of note that Qualcomm had filed its patent infringement lawsuit at the same time it filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission seeking to ban the import of Apple iPhones that use competing Intel Corp chips because of the alleged patent violations.
This year has witnessed refutation after refutation in the Apple versus Qualcomm legal battle, kicking off in January when the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complained that Qualcomm had engaged in anticompetitive patent licensing practices. Soon after, Apple sued Qualcomm for $1 billion, accusing the company of charging unfair royalties for “technologies they have nothing to do with” and refusing to pay quarterly rebates. A Qualcomm countersuit followed in April, and the dispute escalated throughout the year with expanded lawsuits and claims lodged by each side.
The dispute between Apple and Qualcomm over patents is part of a wide-ranging legal war between the two companies and many believe the patent lawsuit battle between Apple and Qualcomm isn’t about to cool down any time soon.
