Apple Seeks Cancellation of 4 Qualcomm Patents

It is now starting to look like Apple and Qualcomm will never run out of reasons to drag each other to court. Recently Apple filed a complaint that seeks the cancellation of four patents granted to Qualcomm.

As first reported by Bloomberg, Apple filed its latest complaint against Qualcomm on Thursday, calling on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to invalidate at least four patents granted to the chip maker, reportedly arguing that these do not represent new ideas.

The four patents which Qualcomm is being sued for are an auto-focus tech for digital cameras, a device that works as a phone and a personal digital assistant, touch-sensitive displays, and a circuit memory.

Apple’s complaint and Qualcomm’s counter-arguments will be deliberated by three judges from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. If Apple gets the upper hand in the preliminary proceedings, the board will initiate a formal review of the patents in question and a decision could be announced within a year.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg also noted that Apple has been one of the regular petitioners at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, with a total of 398 filed complaints so far.

This latest filing is just one complaint in a series of a back-and-forth legal battle between Apple and Qualcomm. The companies have several pending cases mostly involving infringement suits in various countries.

In 2017, Apple sued Qualcomm for allegedly charging them with unfair licensing deals. This initiated a series of complaints from both companies. One of the high-profile pending cases is Qualcomm’s bid to block the sale of iPhone in the United States due to patent infringement claims.

On the other hand, Qualcomm made pronouncements in April that it will be cutting down its licensing fees to all tech companies using their products along with the hope of reaching a settlement with Apple “before the end of the year.”