Apple’s heated battle with Qualcomm is continuing and, as part of it, the company wants a legally sanctioned block to be placed on import iPhones featuring Intel chips.
However, a group of Apple consumers is striking back, arguing that any kind of an import ban would, “freeze out Intel’s nascent challenge to Qualcomm’s illegal monopoly” and “injure competition in a market already suffering from Qualcomm’s anticompetitive behavior.”
The motion for a preliminary injunction was filed with the Northern California District Court, asking presiding district court judge Lucy Koh to stop Qualcomm pursuing the potential ban under the All Writs Act.
A brief history of Apple vs. Qualcomm
Qualcomm requested last year that the U.S. International Trade Commission place a “limited exclusion order” on all iPhones that use Intel’s 4G wireless modem. Apple has been using Intel chips since the iPhone 7. iPhones powered by Qualcomm’s chip would be excluded from the ban. This is because Qualcomm is claiming patent infringement on six of its patents. The argument has continued to rage ever since.
Recently, a judge claimed that Apple was violating Qualcomm patents, with import bans as the only available solution. Apple has struck back at this verdict by saying that the patents shouldn’t have been awarded to begin with. Qualcomm, for its part, recently offered to lower the fees, and Apple has continued to use Qualcomm chips during the dispute.
It doesn’t seem like this particular clash will end any time soon, though. Having ended its long-running court battle with Samsung, Qualcomm vs. Apple seems poised to become the lengthy legal conflict with no end in sight.
Source: Bloomberg
