The FTC’s four-year antitrust lawsuit towards Qualcomm has come to an finish. To recount the occasions, the FTC initially filed the case back in 2017 alleging that Qualcomm engaged in “anti-competitive provide and licensing phrases” that “strangled competitors” within the LTE modem section, with Intel and Samsung backing the commerce physique’s efforts.
Qualcomm’s licensing mannequin consists of charging a royalty based mostly on the system’s general value, and with the best Android phones beginning at nicely over $1,000, the FTC wished the seller to vary its licensing phrases. The company famous that Qualcomm turned a monopoly due to its “onerous” licensing practices.
The commerce physique won the case in 2019, with Judge Lucy H. Koh of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California discovering Qualcomm’s licensing charges “unreasonably excessive.” That victory was short-lived, nonetheless, as Qualcomm was in a position to get the ruling reversed on the U.S. ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in August 2020.
On the FTC’s website, Chairwoman Rebecca Slaughter famous that there have been “vital headwinds dealing with the Commission,” so it’s selecting to not take the lawsuit all the way in which to the Supreme Court:
The FTC’s workers did an distinctive job presenting the case, and I proceed to consider that the district court docket’s conclusion that Qualcomm violated the antitrust legal guidelines was solely appropriate and that the court docket of appeals erred in concluding in any other case.
Now greater than ever, the FTC and different regulation enforcement companies have to boldly implement the antitrust legal guidelines to protect towards abusive conduct by dominant corporations, together with in high-technology markets and people who contain mental property.
Slaughter mentioned that the FTC will proceed to observe “anticompetitive or unfair conduct” on this space, however what that can entail stays to be seen. As for Qualcomm, the chip vendor’s normal counsel Don Rosenberg had this to say:
Qualcomm received to the place it’s at this time by investing tens of billions of {dollars} in R&D and inventing applied sciences utilized by billions of individuals world wide.
Now, greater than ever, we should protect the basic incentives to innovate and compete.
