The trial's outcome could affect how the spoils of innovation are distributed, upending the incentives and business models for companies that usher in new technologies.
By Reed Albergotti Reed Albergotti Reporter covering consumer electronics Email Bio Follow April 16 at 11:22 AM Apple and Qualcomm lawyers will make their opening statements Tuesday in a blockbuster trial that pits the iPhone maker against the company that supplies its wireless technology.
The future of Qualcomm, the largest employer in San Diego and one of the town’s most important philanthropic benefactors, is now in question. After a hostile takeover bid by rival Broadcom in 2018, it cut more than 1,500 jobs out of its global workforce of 35,000. When Apple decided to enter the mobile phone market, it was a relative outsider in the wireless industry dominated by companies like Nokia, Research in Motion and Motorola.
But one of the problems with that arrangement, according to Apple, is that some of the technology in the patent bundle also is in its chips. In essence, Qualcomm is getting paid twice for the same technology. Then, in January 2017, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission brought its own case against Qualcomm stemming from the same issues. Qualcomm defended itself in an 11-day trial in January, but the judge in that case has yet to make a ruling.
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