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18 July 2019PatentsSaman Javed

DoJ asks 9th Circuit to pause Qualcomm antitrust ruling

The US Department of Justice has asked a US court to pause the enforcement of an earlier antitrust ruling against Qualcomm.

In a filing at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday, July 16, the DoJ, citing support from the US Department of Energy and Department of Defense, said Qualcomm played a key role in the efficiency of the departments.

Ellen Lord, the under-secretary for Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment said: “For the DoD, Qualcomm is a key player both in terms of its trusted supply chain and as a leader in innovation, and it would be impossible to replace Qualcomm’s critical role in 5G technology in the short term.”

The DoD said it “firmly believes that any measure that inappropriately limits Qualcomm’s technological leadership, ability to invest in research and development, and market competitiveness, even in the short-term, could harm national security.”

The filing comes after a district court sided with the US Federal Trade Commission in an antitrust lawsuit against Qualcomm in May.

The court ruled that Qualcomm had engaged in anticompetitive patent licencing practices in order to maintain its monopoly over the mobile chip market.

It also ordered Qualcomm to renegotiate its licences with a number of rival chipmakers.

On May 29, Qualcomm asked the court for a stay while it pursues an appeal. It said the ruling could upend its talks with phone makers over chips for 5G, the next generation of wireless data networks.

But, the district court denied the motion.

The DoJ’s antitrust division had also asked the court to hold an additional hearing about potential penalties before it made its ruling, but the court declined to do so.

In its filing on Tuesday, the DoJ argued that the ruling was “erroneous” and the decision to deny additional hearings was “unlawful”.

Officials from the US Department of Energy also filed in support of a pause, stating that its missions in nuclear security and protection of the US’ energy and nuclear infrastructure “are dependent on secure and advanced wireless communications”.

“Qualcomm is the major and predominant US supplier of both current generation and upcoming 5G chipsets,” it said.

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