“There’s a lesson for life that Qualcomm may have learned in recent weeks as an unintended side effect of its dispute with Apple: If smart judges figure out whom they can trust, the facts are not for sale,” Florian Mueller writes for FOSS Patents.
“This week the United States International Trade Commission published a redacted version of the late-September initial determination by Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Thomas B. Pender in the investigation of Qualcomm’s first ITC complaint against Apple,” Mueller writes. “The one Qualcomm expert ALJ Pender critized most harshly is J. Gregory Sidak, who is running his own consulting firm named Criterion Economics:”
“[T]he amount of money paid to Mr. Sidak, before the current investigation, was approximately $1 million over several years and […] the company he owns has invoiced between $3 million and $4 million just for this [ITC] investigation [of Qualcomm’s first complaint against Apple] alone. […] In my almost 39 years of practicing law, I have never seen or heard of anything even approaching this level of financial commitment by a witness to a party. Moreover, even absent this financial commitment, I was troubled by his testimony, for example his testimony about there being enough iPhones without the introduction of any new models in 2018 […] ignored reality. From his financial relationship with Qualcomm bias may be presumed, and I find it would be an abuse of my discretion to give any material credibility to this witness or his findings. I also note the [ITC] Staff questioned his credibility twice during their discussion of the Public Interest, and that I noted it above.” (emphasis added)
Mueller writes, “Qualcomm must slowly but surely be concerned about its credibility.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The jig is up, Qualcomm!
Qualcomm’s unreasonable, illogical, and irrational licensing scam, which charges a percentage of the total cost of all components in the phone, even non-Qualcomm components, must end.
SEE ALSO:
Qualcomm claims Apple owes them $7 billion in royalties while Apple says 73% of Qualcomm’s patents have expired – October 27, 2018
Qualcomm seeks to keep patent claims out of legal fight with Apple – October 26, 2018
Qualcomm and U.S. FTC ask judge to delay ruling to pursue settlement talks – October 16, 2018
20-year-old court filing comes back to haunt Qualcomm in antitrust dispute with U.S FTC – October 5, 2018
U.S. ITC judge denies Qualcomm’s request, won’t stop iPhone imports – September 29, 2018
Qualcomm accuses Apple of stealing ‘vast swaths’ of chip secrets and passing them to Intel – September 25, 2018
Qualcomm dealt another blow in second ITC action against Apple – September 19, 2018
Qualcomm CEO sees chance of Apple settlement this year – September 18, 2018
Qualcomm makes a tactical error in its battle with Apple – September 7, 2018
Magistrate judge rebukes Qualcomm for iPhone patent infringement allegations it originally chose not to bring – September 6, 2018
EU regulators charge Qualcomm with additional violation in pricing case – July 19, 2018
Apple petitions U.S. Patent Office to invalidate four Qualcomm patents – June 22, 2018
Apple brings 5G and national security into Qualcomm patent battle – June 18, 2018
Analyst: Apple, Qualcomm legal fight could settle this year – June 11, 2018
Apple CEO Tim Cook to be deposed in Qualcomm lawsuit – April 6, 2018
Judge Koh sets aside sanctions order against Apple in FTC v. Qualcomm antitrust case – February 8, 2018
Apple gets support from Lawyers for Civil Justice in fight against discovery sanctions – February 1, 2018
EU fines chipmaker Qualcomm $1.2 billion for paying Apple to shut out rivals’ chips – January 24, 2018
Apple sanctioned in Qualcomm FTC case for withholding documents – December 22, 2017
Apple countersues Qualcomm for patent infringement – November 29, 2017
Apple designing next-gen iPhones, iPads that would dump Qualcomm components – October 31, 2017
You don’t hear judges so candidly critical. Damning for Qualcomm.
Goody goody. The schadenfreude feels strong against this Qualcomm one. I only wish I could see their ghastly crestfallen faces as the jig is indeed up and their little con game exposed.
If Qualcomm hasn’t noticed they paid several million to one so-called “expert” witness, then they surely won’t notice that their credibility has come into question.
Et tu, Brutus?! Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents is of course infamously known for being bought off by Samsung in the Apple iPhone copying lawsuit. He talks a good story, but is probably jealous of that lucrative Qualcomm comsulting contract …