On August 11, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of Qualcomm in its appeal against the Federal Trade Commission, overturning a lower court ruling that Qualcomm’s business practices were an antitrust violation. The appeals court ruled that Qualcomm’s licensing practices aren’t anticompetitive because “Qualcomm is under no antitrust duty to license rival chip suppliers,” and the lower court’s findings that Qualcomm’s royalties were “unreasonable” were based on a “misunderstanding” of how patent royalties are calculated. Bloomberg Law contacted Finnegan partner Brian Kacedon for his insight on the decision.
Brian said, “The court is saying ‘antitrust law really isn’t the right avenue for this issue.’ It will be interesting to see if different jurisdictions come out in different ways on this issue.’'
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