Qualcomm settle $93 million litigation

An antitrust case between Qualcomm and Taiwanese regulators has been settled this week, with the mobile chipmaker agreeing to pay $93 million and to invest $700 million to the country in the next five years.  The settlement replaces a fine of roughly $778 million imposed by Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission in 2017,

In 2017 Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission accused the US firm of refusing to sell chips to mobile handset makers that wouldn’t agree to its patent-licensing terms. It was also accused of cutting iPhone maker Apple a royalty discount in exchange for the exclusive use of Qualcomm’s modem chips in the past.

Under the settlement, Qualcomm will have to provide reports every six months to Taiwanese officials for five years to show it is negotiating in good faith with handset makers in patent-licensing deals. Moreover, Qualcomm will be required to offer patent licenses to rival chipmakers such as Intel and MediaTek on fair terms before seeking to enforce its patent rights against them in court.

As part of the deal Qualcomm said it had agreed to build new manufacturing and operations facilities in Taiwan and work with Taiwan universities and startups on technology initiatives around so-called 5G technology, the next generation of wireless networks.

Source: The patent lawyer magazine