The legal battle between Apple and Qualcomm continues. This time, Qualcomm has launched a new lawsuit against the iPhone maker in China, asking the Chinese court to block the sales and manufacturing of the iPhone in the country, according to Bloomberg. This is a continuation of the legal battle between Qualcomm and Apple that started in the US and has now spread worldwide.
In the lawsuit, Qualcomm claims that Apple violates three of its patent. What’s more interesting is that the company also says those patents are not essential to any industry standards. This means that Qualcomm isn’t obligated to license them. “Apple employs technologies invented by Qualcomm without paying for them,” a Qualcomm spokesperson told Bloomberg. The patents in question cover power management and the iPhone’s Force Touch feature.
“Apple believes deeply in the value of innovation, and we have always been willing to pay fair and reasonable rates for patents we use. In our many years of ongoing negotiations with Qualcomm, these patents have never been discussed and in fact were only granted in the last few months,” an Apple spokesperson said. “Regulators around the world have found Qualcomm guilty of abusing their position for years. This claim is meritless and, like their other courtroom maneuvers, we believe this latest legal effort will fail.”
Looking at things from Apple’s perspective, the iPhone maker says that the claims as “meritless,” and that the effort from Qualcomm would ultimately fail. Apple adds that the lawsuit seems more opportunistic than anything since Qualcomm never brought up the patent during negotiations.
This is the second time Qualcomm is attempting to get the iPhone sales banned. Earlier this year in July, the company made a similar claim, trying to get the iPhone banned in the US by bringing six patents into question.
It seems highly unlikely that iPhone sales would be banned anywhere. Qualcomm seems to be moving towards making an attempt to get back at Apple for filing numerous lawsuits against them worldwide. Apple has cited Qualcomm’s unfair licensing practices as one of the main reasons for filing the lawsuits around the globe. Qualcomm is mostly looking for some leverage when negotiation begin to settle all lawsuits, should that opportunity come.
