In a new twist in the lengthy legal battle, Apple has filed a countersuit against Qualcomm in the U.S. District Court in San Diego accusing the chipmaker of infringing upon its patents.
According to a new report from Reuters, the countersuit alleges that Qualcomm’s Snapdragon mobile phone chips that power a wide variety of Android-based devices infringe on Apple’s patents.
Reuters reports that the patents relate to power efficiency measures. “The Apple patents involve ensuring each part of a phone’s processor draws only the minimum power needed, turning off parts of the processor when they are not needed and making sleep and wake functions work better,” reads the report.
The Apple patents involve ensuring each part of a phone’s processor draws only the minimum power needed, turning off parts of the processor when they are not needed and making sleep and wake functions work better.
In its filing, Apple alleges that Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 and 820 processors, which power phones from Samsung and Google, infringe on those patents. Samsung and Google are not named in Apple’s counterclaims.
“Apple began seeking those patents years before Qualcomm began seeking the patents it asserts against Apple in this case,” the company wrote in its complaint.
The dispute between Apple and Qualcomm over patents is part of a wide-ranging legal war between the two companies. In January, Apple sued Qualcomm for nearly $1 billion in patent royalty rebates that Qualcomm allegedly withheld from Apple. In a related suit, Qualcomm sued the contract manufacturers that make Apple’s phones, but Apple joined in to defend them.
