Reuters reported yesterday that Apple had filed a countersuit against Qualcomm in which it claims that the companyβs Snapdragon chips (used in countless Android devices) represent an infringement on its own patents.
This comes after Qualcomm pursued a ban on the import of the iPad and iPhone into the US earlier this year. At the time, the tech firm said Apple infringed on no fewer than six of its patents related to carrier technologies and aggregation. These were created to enable iPhones to preserve battery life during the communication process.
Apple denied the allegations.
The Cupertino companyβs new counter lawsuit leads the claim that it is Qualcommβs Snapdragon chips that infringe on patents. According to the legal documents, Qualcomm infringes on βat leastβ eight battery life patents held by Apple. These are related to ensuring that every part of the deviceβs processor uses no more power than is absolutely necessary for its performance, making sure that wake-sleep functions provide an optimised user experience, and that certain processor parts are powered down when not in use.
The documents specifically refer to Qualcommβs Snapdragon 820 and 800 processors used in Google and Samsung smartphones.
In the complaint, the firm claims that: βApple began seeking those patents years before Qualcomm began seeking the patents it asserts against Apple in this caseβ.
This has been a hectic year in the ongoing rivalry of Apple versus Qualcomm, predominantly played out in court battles. In January, the Federal Trade Commission said Qualcomm was involved in anti-competitive patent licensing activities. Not long after, Apple sued the company for one billion dollars because it was forced to pay βunfairβ royalties for βtechnologies they have nothing to do withβ.
Qualcomm countersued Apple in April and things have gone from bad to worse ever since.
Before you go
After spending over 20 years working with Macs, both old and new, theres a tool I think would be useful to every Mac owner who is experiencing performance issues.
CleanMyMac is highest rated all-round cleaning app for the Mac, it can quickly diagnose and solve a whole plethora of common (but sometimes tedious to fix) issues at the click of a button. It also just happens to resolve many of the issues covered in the speed up section of this site, so Download CleanMyMac to get your Mac back up to speed today.
Add Comment