Back on Fri, 31 May 2019 11:15:58 +1200, I wrote:
A pretty sobering read
<https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/05/how-qualcomm-shook-down-the-cell-phone-industry-for-almost-20-years/>:
... the article reads like a catalogue of
gangster-like tactics. All of which is perfectly all right under the
US interpretation of “Free Enterprise”, of course ...
Judge Lucy Koh’s verdict has just been overturned by an appeals court
<https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/08/appeals-court-ruling-for-qualcomm-a-victory-of-theory-over-facts/>:
Judge Koh thought the FTC had demonstrated predatory and
exclusionary conduct. She described how Qualcomm threatened to
abruptly cut off the modem chip supply of smartphone makers who
challenged Qualcomm's high patent rates. She found Qualcomm
structured deals with Apple, Samsung, LG, and other smartphone
vendors to discourage them from doing business with other
chipmakers. She cited internal documents in which Qualcomm
executives acknowledged the anticompetitive impact of these
policies.
But three judges from the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court ignored much
of this evidence and waved the rest away.
So Qualcomm is now free to continue its patent (ab)uses.