EU begins antitrust proceedings against Qualcomm
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Alfredo Padilla Published on October 01, 2007 Comment on this |
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The European Union on Monday launched formal antitrust proceedings against Qualcomm. Qualcomm is a leading provider of mobile technologies, most importantly it holds several patents that are used in third generation (3G) chipsets. Qualcomm had previously agreed to license these patents on "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms." Several handset manufacturers have complained that Qualcomm is violating this agreement by demanding too much in licensing fees.Qualcomm responded that mobile phone makers were trying "to stifle the competition that Qualcomm brings to the market." The key issue in a 2005 complaint by manufacturers is that Qualcomm is charging the same amount for it's patents used in the new standard for 3G chipsets even though the patents account for a smaller percentage of the system.
This is just the latest of Qualcomm's legal troubles, including patent infrigement cases with Nokia and Broadcom and an investigation in South Korea. Qualcomm's shares were down 0.9% on the news.
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