A federal judge has decided that an antitrust lawsuit against Qualcomm can move forward. On Monday, the San Diego tech giant lost its motion to dismiss a case brought by the Federal Trade Commission.
The FTC charged Qualcomm in January with using anticompetitive tactics to maintain a monopoly on chips that power cell phones and other mobile devices. The FTC alleges that Qualcomm has a "no license, no chips" policy that forces cell phone makers that want access to key components made by Qualcomm to also agree to Qualcomm's preferred patent licensing terms.
Qualcomm moved to have the case thrown out, arguing the FTC's complaint "does not contain any factual allegations of anticompetitive harm to Qualcomm's rivals." But earlier this week, U.S. District Lucy Koh in San Jose denied Qualcomm's motion, giving U.S. regulators a chance to prove their case.
In a statement, Qualcomm's general counsel Don Rosenberg said, "We look forward to further proceedings in which we will be able to develop a more accurate factual record and the FTC will have the burden to prove its claims which we continue to believe are without merit."
Qualcomm has also faced antitrust charges outside the U.S. The company agreed to pay nearly $1 billion to end a Chinese antitrust investigation, and South Korea recently fined the company $865 million. Qualcomm is also currently facing a lawsuit from Apple, which says Qualcomm "reinforces its dominance through exclusionary tactics and excessive royalties."
