Apple CEO Tim Cook, Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf Slated as Witnesses in Upcoming Trial

The upcoming trial between Apple and Qualcomm will include testimony by both Apple CEO Tim Cook, as well as Qualcomm CEO Steven Mollenkopf.

The companies, which are fighting a wide-ranging legal war over the fees Qualcomm charges for access to its cellular technology inventions, filed witness lists in U.S. District Court in San Diego earlier this week.

According to a new report from Bloomberg, next month’s Apple v. Qualcomm trial will include testimony from both Cook and his counterpart at Qualcomm, Steven Mollenkopf.

According to a filing seen by Bloomberg, Cook is expected to testify about Apple’s business strategy, financial performance, relationship with Qualcomm and dealings with Asian contract manufacturers that build iPhones.

He also is expected to testify about industry practices around standard-essential patent licensing and other matters. He is expected to be on the stand for more than 90 minutes, according to court documents.

The witness list includes top executives from Apple and Qualcomm as well as representatives from Apple’s contract manufactures, third parties like Samsung and Motorola, and various experts.

Witnesses from Apple may include Bob Mansfield, former head of hardware; Jeff Williams, chief operating officer; Phil Schiller, head of marketing; and Bruce Sewell, former general counsel. Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon and company co-founder Irwin Jacobs will be called to testify, as well as executives from the Asian manufacturers, including Foxconn, and from other makers of smartphones, such as Samsung, according to the witness list.

There are billions of dollars at stake in regards to the trial, with Apple’s manufacturing partners asking for $27 billion USD in damages in the trial. The contract manufacturers — which include Foxconn, Compal, Pegatron, and Wistron — are involved in the case because they’re the ones who license Qualcomm’s patents on behalf of Apple.

The jury trial set to start April 15 could be a decisive face-off in the two-year global fight between the tech companies, with Apple challenging Qualcomm patent licensing practices and Qualcomm trying to recoup royalty payments that Apple and its Asian manufacturers stopped paying in 2017.

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