Qualcomm sues Apple in China aiming to ban iPhone production and sales
On September 29 in China, Qualcomm fired the latest salvo against Apple in the two companies" ongoing worldwide legal battle. This was revealed today, although the court has not yet made the filings public.
Qualcomm alleges that Apple is using technologies invented by Qualcomm without paying for them. The lawsuit was filed in a Beijing intellectual property court, claiming infringement of three non-standard essential patents and seeking injunctive relief. Essentially, the chip maker wants the court to ban the production and sale of iPhones in China.
While a sales ban would definitely hurt Apple, a production cutoff would cripple the company"s supply of smartphones globally, since most iPhones are made in China. And, however unlikely, such a ruling would have a huge effect on Apple since the iPhone provides two thirds of its revenue.
The patents Qualcomm says Apple infringed upon cover power management and the Force Touch technology. Apple first sued Qualcomm in January over its royalty collection practices, which the iPhone maker thinks are unfair - namely charging a percentage of the total price of iPhones and other Apple devices as a licensing fee for its patents. Then Qualcomm sued Apple for making its modems look inferior to Intel"s, and in July the chip maker even asked the ITC to ban iPhone sales in the US.
