Tech associations back FTC in Qualcomm FRAND dispute
Associations which represent companies including Facebook, Amazon, and Google have supported the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in its patent dispute with semiconductor company Qualcomm.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and The App Association filed their joint amicus brief at the US District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division, on September 17.
The CCIA is a non-profit group representing companies in IT and telecommunications fields, including Facebook, Amazon, and Google.
Trade group The App Association, which is sponsored by organisations such as Microsoft and eBay, focuses on the interests of businesses operating in the mobile economy.
In January 2017, the FTC accused Qualcomm in a competition lawsuit of using unfair licensing tactics to maintain a monopoly in the supply of semiconductor devices used in mobile devices.
Qualcomm licenses standard-essential patents (SEPs) in the mobile communications field. According to the FTC, Qualcomm has “consistently refused” to license its SEPs to competitors, in violation of fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing obligations.
The competition dispute is due to be heard at trial in January 2019.
Last month, the FTC asked District Judge Lucy Koh for partial summary judgment to determine that, under the FRAND conditions Qualcomm committed to when it participated in setting wireless standards, Qualcomm must license its SEPs to rival chip makers.
Qualcomm has a contractual commitment to offer SEP licences on FRAND terms to entities including those considered competitors, the FTC’s motion said.
Last week’s amicus brief similarly claimed that it is “imperative” that wireless communications technologies are made available on FRAND terms to all market participants, in order to sustain a healthy marketplace.
“A clear and direct promise to license on FRAND terms, without restrictions, cannot reasonably be interpreted to include hidden, unstated limitations,” the CCIA and The App Association said, so Qualcomm is not permitted to refuse certain companies a FRAND licence by virtue of their position in the market.
Earlier this year, the European Commission fined Qualcomm €997 million ($1.4 billion) for violating EU competition law. It said that Qualcomm “illegally shut out rivals from the market for long-term evolution baseband chipsets for over five years, thereby cementing its market dominance”.
Meanwhile, Qualcomm is involved in patent disputes with Apple in the US and the UK. Apple recently filed a series of inter partes reviews in the US relating to Qualcomm’s patents, and the two companies have also been embroiled in a FRAND dispute at the English High Court.
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