Qualcomm asks a court to force iPhone makers to pay up

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Qualcomm says Apple is playing dirty.
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Qualcomm has asked a court to force iPhone suppliers to keep paying it royalty payments while it is in the middle of its standoff with Apple.

The tech giant has updated one of its lawsuits to include what it claims is additional evidence about Apple instructing third-party suppliers not to pay money they owe to Qualcomm. Qualcomm suggests that this is an underhanded tactic on Apple’s part to force it to settle sooner.

“We are confident that our contracts will be found valid and enforceable but in the interim it is only fair and equitable that our licensees pay for the property they are using,” Qualcomm general counsel Don Rosenberg said.

Recently, Qualcomm complained that iPhone makers Foxconn, Pegatron, Wistron and Compal weren’t living up to their, “contractual obligations to pay for the use of Qualcomm’s inventions,” based on order Apple had given them not to pay.

The relationship between Apple and Qualcomm — which produces the wireless chips used in various Apple devices — soured earlier this year after Apple filed a $1 billion lawsuit against the chipmaker. Apple claims that Qualcomm has been charging charging royalties on technology it does not own. Qualcomm then hit back with a lawsuit of its own, arguing that Apple is being misleading and that it’s breached its contract. Qualcomm reportedly plans to try and force Apple’s hand by seeking a ban on Apple importing iPhones into the United States.

The Apple standoff has been particularly bad for Qualcomm, for whom Apple was one of its biggest customers. Shares in Qualcomm fell 14 percent within days of the Apple lawsuit being announced, and discussion of the dispute dominated the company’s most recent earnings call.

Source: Axios

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