May saw the Federal Trade Commission win its antitrust lawsuit against Qualcomm, but the San Diego modem chip make has since sought to appealed the ruling. As part of its appeal of the ruling, Qualcomm has attempted to introduce internal Apple documents as part of its appeal efforts.
Reuters reports Qualcomm on Tuesday submitted the internal Apple documents to U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh, which included slides from an internal Apple presentations on how to pressure and “hurt” Qualcomm:
On Tuesday, Qualcomm submitted them to U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in opposition to a sweeping ruling that would alter its business model as it pursues an appeal. In the slides from internal Apple presentations, the iPhone maker outlined goals to “Create Leverage by Building Pressure” and “Hurt Qualcomm Financially.”
Qualcomm had originally made use of the Apple documents during its legal battle with Apple, which came to a surprise settlement earlier this year. The slides included discussions of how to “devalue” the kind of patents held by Qualcomm and “Reduce Apple’s Net Royalty to Qualcomm.”
The FTC objected to Qualcomm’s use of the slides, calling the submission of the slides “improper, unfair, and prejudicial.” The agency argued that it hadn’t had a chance to formally object to the slides. It said if it had been given an opportunity to argue against it, a witness from Apple could have testified to “the document’s context and purpose and the meaning of the cited language.”
Last month’s ruling saw Qualcomm ordered to renegotiate its existing licensing terms so that its supply of modem chips is kept completely separate from any patent licensing agreement.
