Qualcomm sues Apple, alleging it shared chip code with Intel
Qualcomm has levied another lawsuit against Apple, this time alleging that the iPhone maker took advantage of its “unprecedented access” to Qualcomm’s code to aid Intel, Bloomberg reports. The news lends credence to a report in Reuters that Apple has designed iPhones bereft of Qualcomm technologies that it could ship as early as next year.
The suit alleges that Apple didn’t hold up its end of the bargain in separating engineers working with Qualcomm and Intel chips, and that the those working with Intel may have been given access to key information about its competitor’s technologies. The suit notes that in a request from Apple for proprietary Qualcomm information, an Intel engineer was on the distribution list.
The lawsuit filed yesterday in a San Diego court suggest that there is no end in sight for the legal skirmish between the two companies that began earlier this year when Apple sued Qualcomm for $1 billion and halted royalty payments to the company over complaints that Qualcomm was charging for technologies that they had nothing to do with.
In the months since, there’s been significant pushback from Qualcomm as the company has tried to seek injunctions in both the U.S. and China against the sales of iPhones that use the company’s wireless tech. Qualcomm has also sued Apple over patent infringement.
The lack of royalty payments from Apple and its suppliers has been doing significant damage to Qualcomm’s bottom line, as well. Yesterday, Qualcomm reported its earnings, which beat analyst expectations even as the company’s profits dropped 90 percent year-over-year.
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