The US Supreme Court has junked Apple's appeal for a hearing regarding the Qualcomm patent lawsuit on Monday, June 27. The Cupertino tech giant wants to suspend two smartphone patents coming from the chipmaker.
Before, the two companies had a bitter relationship with each other. Now, the issue has been brought to the court for clarity.
US Judges Turn Away Apple's Appeal
In a recent report by The Verge, Apple wants to reopen the hearing regarding the patent infringement filed by Qualcomm back in 2017.
The two patents, which are US Patent No. 7,844,037 and Patent No. 8,683,362, suggest that the Cupertino giant was sued because it used the mobile-technology patent of the chipmaker for its Apple smartwatches, iPads, and iPhones.
As a result, the tech titan decided to challenge if these patents were valid. As such, it submitted a request to the Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
Both Apple and Qualcomm are locked in a billion-dollar deal that says that the former can use Qualcomm processors for smartphone production. The legal action was settled in 2019.
At the time, the US judges favored the chipmaker, therefore dismissing Apple's bid that would rekindle the infringement issue with the processor manufacturer.
In addition, Apple could not push through its move regarding the royalty payments since the Federal Circuit junked this decision.
Related Article: Apple's First Modem Without Qualcomm is Reportedly Debuting in 2023! Here's What to Expect
Apple is Facing Risk of Litigation
In a story from Reuters, Apple said that the legal action will still take effect after its agreement with Qualcomm expires in 2025. If there's an extension for the settlement, the schedule will be moved to 2027.
According to the iPhone maker, Qualcomm has previously filed a lawsuit against them, yet it did not reveal if it would do the same thing for the second time.
So far, Apple knows that the chipmaker has a "history of aggressively enforcing its patents."
Since the Silicon Valley electronics company has not yet presented any "concrete" injury regarding the legal case, Qualcomm requested the US supreme court to junk its appeal.
In 2018, Tech Times reported that Apple was already keen on dropping Qualcomm as its supplier for its iPhone chips. A popular tech leaker Ming-Chi Kuo said that the company did that because of the "legal fallout" with the latter.
At that time, Apple established its plans to seek other firms which would help them in producing a component for their smartphones.
Meanwhile, the iPhone 14 is allegedly coming in late 2022, according to several sources. The speculations suggest that the upcoming flagship device would receive a "significant" upgrade from its predecessor.
The new lineup could potentially debut with the always-on-display feature, one of the most awaited capabilities for the next-gen handset.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Joseph Henry
