And as a result of this, International Trade Commission Judge MaryJoan McNamara has said that some models of the iPhone which contain Intel modems may be blocked from shipping from China to the United States. However, the judgement still has to be reviewed by the ITC and there is a possibility that when that happens, things may change for Apple. We should point out that in a separate ITC ruling, Qualcomm has lost an opportunity for an iPhone ban because the entire commission rejected the initial finding of patent infringement. But in spite of this, the recommendation for iPhone ban by McNamara is a big deal for Apple. It is worth adding here that earlier this month, the company was found to have infringed on three of Qualcomm patents. The American chipmaker was given $31 million after that verdict came out.
But nevertheless, Qualcomm has been building a legal case against Apple steadily and it has also managed to win in various parts of the world, ahead of a larger trial that is scheduled to take place next month. At the trial, the two companies will be seen battling over the core argument of their legal issues, which involves Qualcomm’s alleged anti-competitive licensing strategies and the patent royalties that Apple supposedly owes to the company for flouting the terms of their relationship. We should add here that the lawsuit was initially filed by Apple more than two years ago, and it has now become a legal battle that is as big as the Cupertino based technology giant’s dispute with Samsung. The original complaint was followed by a number of separate lawsuits that involved patent infringement and the battle soon reached to countries other than the United States. It is worth noticing that this also led to a ban on some iPhone models in China and Germany. Prior to the legal battle, Apple and Qualcomm had an exclusive licensing arrangement for iPhone models to use modems that were made by Qualcomm.
