Interview: Qualcomm’s John Han—‘The European Commission doesn’t get our market’

When it comes to the fast-moving—and often fraught—space surrounding standard-essential patents (SEPs) and their licensing arrangements, chipmaker  Qualcomm rarely strays far from the headlines.

Founded in San Diego in 1985, the company has been at the vanguard of the revolution in semiconductors, software and services that has played a key role in advancing wireless technology.

Indeed, three decades after its formation, Qualcomm’s patents are, arguably, critical to the 5G, 4G and other mobile communications standards in the telecoms sector, and generally licensed under fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms.

But the company’s journey to success has not been without controversy. It has come to be vilified by some for one of its policies—colloquially known in the telecoms industry as ‘no licence, no chips’.

In the eyes of its detractors, the chipmaker charges “disproportionately high” patent royalty rates to phone manufacturers and refuses to sell them broadband chips if they do not take out a licence.