Qualcomm today filed its Answer and Counterclaims to the January lawsuit brought by Apple against the company in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
Apple had filed the lawsuit accusing Qualcomm of overcharging for chips and refusing to pay some $1 billion in promised rebates. The lawsuit came days after the U.S. government accused the chipmaker of resorting to anticompetitive tactics to maintain a monopoly over key semiconductors in mobile phones.
Qualcomm's filing details the value of the technologies Qualcomm has invented, contributed and shared with the industry through its licensing program, as well as Apple's failure to engage in "good faith negotiations" for a license to Qualcom's 3G and 4G standard essential patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. The filing also outlines how Apple:
- Breached agreements and mischaracterized agreements and negotiations with Qualcomm;
- Interfered with Qualcomm's agreements with Qualcomm licensees that manufacture iPhones and iPads for Apple;
- Encouraged regulatory attacks on Qualcomm's business in various jurisdictions around the world by misrepresenting facts and making false statements;
- Chose not to utilize the full performance of Qualcomm's modem chips in its iPhone 7, misrepresented the performance disparity between iPhones using
- Qualcomm modems and those using competitor-supplied modems; and
- Threatened Qualcomm in an attempt to prevent it from making any public comparisons about the superior performance of the Qualcomm-powered iPhones.
Qualcomm seeks, among other things, damages from Apple for reneging on its promises in several agreements and to enjoin Apple from further interference with Qualcomm's agreements with the companies that manufacture iPhones and iPads for Apple.
Responding to the chipmaker's statement, Apple said it is reiterating its comments made in January that Qualcomm had overcharged royalties and gained from Apple's technologies not related to Qualcomm's patents.
Apple also filed in January a lawsuit against Qualcomm in Beijing, alleging the chip supplier abused its clout in the chip industry and seeking 1 billion yuan ($145.32 million) in damages, according to Beijing's Intellectual Property Court.