Qualcomm Wins Stay Of Change In Licensing Order While Appeal Is Heard

Qualcomm has secured a stay of the court order to change its licensing practices. The order issued in May by judge Lucy Koh in the FTC’s case against Qualcomm is suspended until the company’s appeal is heard. The first hearing of the appeal was set for January 2020.

The FTC, the federal competition watchdog in the US, brought the antitrust lawsuit against Qualcomm in January 2017. In May this year, the court ruled against Qualcomm, finding that the company abused its dominant position in the smartphone chip market and charged excessive licensing fees.

The judge ordered that Qualcomm negotiate or renegotiate licensing agreements with customers free of unfair tactics, such as threatening to cut off access to its chips. Qualcomm also must license its patents to rival chipmakers at fair and reasonable prices, and can’t sign exclusive supply agreements with smartphone makers like Apple that block rivals from selling chips into devices. The commitments would be monitored for seven years.

Qualcomm immediately appealed and said it was confident the ruling would be overturned. The company argued its business practices were justified and lawful and said a stay was necessary because Judge Koh’s ruling would irreparably harm the company while it was appealing the case.

The stay granted by the San Francisco-based ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals will remain in effect throughout the hearing of Qualcomm’s appeal.―Telecompaper