Bloomberg – 11:03 – 18/01/2017
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The demand would be another challenge for policy for the business
antitrust Authorities of the united States are ready to sue Qualcomm Inc. for allegedly employing unfair practices in the way in which licenses its technology, said sources familiar with the matter.
Qualcomm, the largest manufacturer of semiconductors for mobile phones, revealed in 2014 that the Federal Communications Commission (FTC, for its acronym in English) was investigating its practices of licensing and noted that a control measure could result in a fine or changes to your business.
The lawsuit would be another challenge for policy for the most profitable business of Qualcomm, the licensing of technology. The chip manufacturer obtains the greater part of their earnings with the sale of rights to use patents that are essential to all systems of modern mobile phones. Qualcomm has argued that its process of granting of license complies with industry standards that have been in place for more than 20 years, and that are used by other companies.
last month, South Korea -headquarters of two of its largest customers – fined the company with 1.03 trillion won (890 million) and rated its practices as monopolistic, while the company, with headquarters in San Diego has indicated it will appeal the decision. Qualcomm is also the target of investigations by the European Union and the authorities of taiwan.
the shares of the company fell 3 percent to 64.91 dollars in the first few hours of the afternoon in New York. Representatives of the FTC and Qualcomm refused to comment.
Qualcomm is the largest developer of the technology underlying the way in which they communicate with the mobile devices. The company has been the target of harsh criticism by demanding a high payment of the royalty and the conditions for granting licences. This has resulted in many regulatory investigations throughout the world.
The chip maker has been argued that the beneficiaries of the regulatory action -the phone manufacturers – have concluded new agreements that recognize the validity of the patents of Qualcomm and that the users of your technology to benefit from the strong investment in research and development.
Interoperability of the phones
The FTC investigation focuses on a process by which the firms join together to develop industry standards so that devices from different manufacturers can interoperate; thus, for example, data sent from a phone of Apple Inc. can be received and understood by one manufactured by Samsung Electronics Co.
Since the companies that develop these standards have the advantage of ensuring that their patented inventions will be included in the new specifications, they agree to license the patents under terms that are “reasonable and non-discriminatory”.
The definition of that phrase has been intentionally not defined. Accordingly, courts and regulators have had difficulty interpreting what is fair and reasonable, and has been a key topic during the legal battles between smartphone manufacturers.
Prohibitions for import
The FTC has been analyzing thoroughly the use of the patents are foundational in their disputes of licensing, particularly in telecommunications. When pondering the case of patents of Google Inc. against Microsoft Corp., the agency in 2012 called for limits on the ability of the FTC to impose import bans when they violate the so-called “patent standard-essential”.
she Held that position in front of an import ban imposed on the phones of Apple in a case brought by Samsung in 2013. The government of president Barack Obama overturned the ban, citing fears that some patent owners began, “suspensions”, which means that it would demand royalties wildly high, under threat of withholding the use of basic technology required to make a phone work.
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