Lead attorney for Apple assembly firm Foxconn reiterated statements similar sounding to ones made by Apple attorneys that neither company would seek a settlement in court with Qualcomm over the companies ongoing legal tug-of-war.
The statement comes just weeks after Apple attorney William Isaacson told reporters that a trial against Qualcomm “would be necessary”, despite conflicting comments coming from Qualcomm via its CEO, who implied a peaceful resolution was just “on the doorstep.”
Here’s Isaacson’s statement from December 1, where he firmly denies any possibility of a settlement.
“The parties are going to need a trial,” “There have been unfortunate articles lately that the parties are close to a settlement, and that is not true. There haven’t been talks in months.”
The battle stems from Apple and Foxconn challenging Qualcomm’s cut from each iPhone sale. The San Fransisco chipmaker refutes the dispute and says Apple via Foxconn has billions of dollars in unpaid royalties. Qualcomm further accused Apple of stealing secretive information regarding their chips and offering them to competitor Intel.
While Apple secured a minor victory when a judge ruled Apple’s swift decision to switch from Qualcomm based modems to Intel would not be admissible in the upcoming trial, the company took serious heat in China when it lost a legal fight, forcing a specialized iOS update to comply with the ruling to avoid a sweeping-sales ban.
Ted Boutrous, a lawyer representing Foxconn, told Reuters on Sunday the following.
To the extent Qualcomm has indicated there have been licensing discussions with the contract manufacturers, they’ve basically made the same sort of unreasonable demands that got them to where they are right now, which impose significant preconditions to even discuss a new arrangement
The publication further reports a source close to the matter offered up this brief tidbit.
…absolutely no meaningful discussion taking place between us (Apple) and Qualcomm, and there is no settlement in sight.
Continual claims of ‘unreasonable demands’ by Qualcomm from Apple and Foxconn seem to concretely put to bed any inkling chance of a resolution pre-trial. The case is set to reach court in April 2019, with potential billion dollar ramifications.
Despite all this legal drama, recent reports claimed Apple began development on in-house cellular modems to distance themselves from both Qualcomm and Intel entirely. Perhaps as soon as 2021.
What do you think of the continual legal battles between these companies? Let us know down in the comments.
Subscribe to 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments