Judge Gonzolo P. Curiel of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, today rejected Qualcomm’s request for a preliminary injunction. Qualcomm was hoping that the court would force manufacturers of the Apple iPhone and Apple iPad to pay the chip maker royalties for the use of certain Qualcomm patents. These standard essential patents are supposed to be licensed using fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms (FRAND). Contract manufacturers like Compal Electronics Inc., Foxconn Technology Group, Pegatron Corp. and Wistron Corp. have stopped paying Qualcomm royalties at Apple’s request, with Apple complaining that Qualcomm failed to use FRAND to determine its royalties structure.
The legal battle between Apple and Qualcomm also deals with royalty rebate payments that Qualcomm was supposed to make to Apple.
