Qualcomm puts value of its patent portfolio on line in Apple jury trial

“Qualcomm Inc. is putting the value of its patent portfolio on the line in a California courtroom in its hometown to try to make Apple Inc. pay for using technology the chipmaker credits for the iPhone’s commercial success,” Edvard Pettersson and Bill Callahan report for Bloomberg. “It’s the first time a U.S. jury will have a say in the two-year, sprawling global battle between the tech giants.”
“A major damages award by jurors would help Qualcomm undermine Apple’s claims that the chipmaker overcharges for its patent portfolio and may give the iPhone and iPad maker an incentive to negotiate a comprehensive settlement to their dispute,” Pettersson and Callahan report. “The trial started Monday in federal court in San Diego and is scheduled to take two weeks.”
“Even if it loses, Apple can shrug off virtually any damage award, according to Bason, but a verdict for the iPhone maker would weaken Qualcomm’s hand,” Pettersson and Callahan report. “Apple’s lawyer, Juanita Brooks, told jurors in her opening statement that it was Qualcomm that stole technological ideas from Apple, not the other way around, and that Apple had a friendly relationship with Qualcomm until Apple began using Intel Corp. chips in the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus models in 2016. ‘Will Qualcomm be able to prove that we infringed?’ she said. ‘Maybe in the Qualcomm world but not in the real world.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The writing is on the wall. Qualcomm’s extortion racket is heaving its last, dying breaths.
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