Back on Fri, 31 May 2019 11:15:58 +1200, I wrote:
A pretty sobering read <https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/05/how-qualcomm-shook-down-the-cell-phone-industry-for-almost-20-years/>:
... the article reads like a catalogue of gangster-like tactics. All of which is perfectly all right under the US interpretation of “Free Enterprise”, of course ...
Judge Lucy Koh’s verdict has just been overturned by an appeals court <https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/08/appeals-court-ruling-for-qualcomm-a-victory-of-theory-over-facts/>: Judge Koh thought the FTC had demonstrated predatory and exclusionary conduct. She described how Qualcomm threatened to abruptly cut off the modem chip supply of smartphone makers who challenged Qualcomm's high patent rates. She found Qualcomm structured deals with Apple, Samsung, LG, and other smartphone vendors to discourage them from doing business with other chipmakers. She cited internal documents in which Qualcomm executives acknowledged the anticompetitive impact of these policies. But three judges from the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court ignored much of this evidence and waved the rest away. So Qualcomm is now free to continue its patent (ab)uses.