The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has granted relief to chipmaker Qualcomm over a patent dispute involving Apple. The companies settled a smartphone modem-related issue in 2019. However, this didn’t end the legal tussle between the two giants.
The Federal Circuit court held that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) may have reached a wrong conclusion in finding Qualcomm’s original patent invalid. Apple first challenged Qualcomm’s patent back in 2018. The company argued that the patent was invalid since it was covered under “prior art” innovations. In 2020, the PTAB ruled in favor of Apple, citing available information from older publications.
Expectedly, Qualcomm appealed to the Federal Circuit following the board’s decision, stating that the patent itself cannot be deemed as prior art. Meanwhile, Apple sought the board to consider the prior art cited in Qualcomm’s patent (via Reuters).
Reports say Apple could use Qualcomm modems on its devices until 2023
This latest development comes from U.S. Circuit Judge Raymond Chen, who wrote on behalf of a three-judge panel saying that the statement from Qualcomm’s patent wasn’t prior art. However, the judge acknowledged that the board might use this statement during its analysis.
The PTAB will now hear the case again and decide whether the statement within Qualcomm’s patent was the primary basis for Apple’s challenge.
As GSMArena notes, court documents have shown that Apple will use Qualcomm modems on its devices until at least 2023. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently wrote that Apple could start using its in-house modems in 2023. But until then, there’s no doubt that Apple will be heavily reliant on Qualcomm for 5G modems.
In other news, Qualcomm reported its Q4 2021 earnings this week. The chipmaker managed to beat analyst expectations for revenue at $10.7 billion. Qualcomm said it is forecasting sales between $10.2 billion and $11 billion for Q1 2022. Analysts have estimated the company to earn $9.6 billion in this period.
Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon referred to the recovery from the global chip crisis, adding that the manufacturer’s supply is steadily improving. “We still have more demand than supply, and we would ship more if we could,” Amon was quoted as saying by CNBC.
2022-02-04 15:05:54