U.S Tech giants Qualcomm and Apple have been enmeshed in legal battles for several reasons bothering on patent rights. There have been lawsuits and countersuits, from both ends and it still looks like the friction is picking up steam in the last few days. Apple is now reportedly alleging that Qualcomm infringed on eight Apple patents bothering on power efficiency. Qualcomm, on its part, has now filed a fresh lawsuit and asserts that the smartphone maker was rummaging through the closet where it keeps its intellectual property. 
In the lawsuit filed, Wednesday, with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, Qualcomm’s complaint claims Apple is in infringement of five patents relating to radio frequency transceivers, power efficiency in mobile CPUs, device power management and image enhancement using depth-based data (3D imagery).
Qualcomm is thus praying for an injunction from the court that would bar Apple from selling the GSM version of 2017 iPhone models; iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X because they do not feature the Qualcomm -made modem chip inside. It must be noted that AT&T and T-Mobile are the companies who stock the GSM version of the 2017 iPhones in the U.S. Thus, those are the ones the lawsuit is targeting. In addition, Qualcomm is also seeking unspecified damages and court costs.
Read Also: Qualcomm Vs Apple: Qualcomm is Suing Apple For Alleged Breach Of Contract
The persistent lawsuit is already affecting the business relationship between both companies. There are reports that Apple is planning for the 2018 iPhone models without Qualcomm’s modem chips. Instead, the leading smartphone manufacturer is said to be turning to Qualcomm’s rival Intel and MediaTek. Intel currently supplies the part for the GSM versions of the latest iPhones. At this time, the best bet would be an out of court settlement as the suits are getting too many. We’d continue to keep an eye on this to see how it pans out eventually.
