Post by Deleted on May 3, 2019 14:44:49 GMT
The Justice Department waded into the Federal Trade Commission’s case against smartphone chip maker Qualcomm Inc., seeking to limit the effects on next-generation cellular technology if a judge rules against the company.
Lucy Koh, a U.S. district judge in San Jose, Calif., is expected to rule soon on the lawsuit the FTC brought against Qualcomm in 2017. The suit argued that the company used its dominance in cellular technology to extract inappropriately high royalties from its patents.
In a Thursday filing, Justice Department lawyers requested a hearing on the impact of any penalty against Qualcomm QCOM, +0.61% , arguing that any sanction had to do as little harm as possible to public and private interests.
“There is a plausible prospect that an overly broad remedy in this case could reduce competition and innovation in markets for 5G technology and downstream applications that rely on that technology,” the filing said. “Such an outcome could exceed the appropriate scope of an equitable antitrust remedy. Moreover, it has the distinct potential to harm rather than help competition.”
The move is the latest sign of unease in the Trump administration about the fate of Qualcomm, the largest supplier of chips in smartphones and a leading developer of the next-generation 5G wireless technology that is beginning to roll out. The filing follows a push by Qualcomm to persuade the government that American national security could be undermined by the FTC case by hurting the company’s ability to compete with China’s Huawei Technologies Co.
Lucy Koh, a U.S. district judge in San Jose, Calif., is expected to rule soon on the lawsuit the FTC brought against Qualcomm in 2017. The suit argued that the company used its dominance in cellular technology to extract inappropriately high royalties from its patents.
In a Thursday filing, Justice Department lawyers requested a hearing on the impact of any penalty against Qualcomm QCOM, +0.61% , arguing that any sanction had to do as little harm as possible to public and private interests.
“There is a plausible prospect that an overly broad remedy in this case could reduce competition and innovation in markets for 5G technology and downstream applications that rely on that technology,” the filing said. “Such an outcome could exceed the appropriate scope of an equitable antitrust remedy. Moreover, it has the distinct potential to harm rather than help competition.”
The move is the latest sign of unease in the Trump administration about the fate of Qualcomm, the largest supplier of chips in smartphones and a leading developer of the next-generation 5G wireless technology that is beginning to roll out. The filing follows a push by Qualcomm to persuade the government that American national security could be undermined by the FTC case by hurting the company’s ability to compete with China’s Huawei Technologies Co.