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Think about it: Trump grabbing women? No-one complains. Trump stops British footballers and school teachers from entering the USA because of muslim names (and gets American ex-police chiefs arrested for the same reason)? Nobody cares. Trump drops bombs and threatens the maddest people in all of Asia? Silence.Americans can't buy iPhones? Trump will be gone in five minutes.

Isn't Trump still using a Samsung Galaxy? I don't think he gives a crap about iPhone import ban. He's just going to tell Apple to make iPhones in America. Trump is no Obama, or Clinton for that matter.
 
IANAL, but if Apple uses Qualcomm IP in a chip manufactured by someone else, shouldn't that third party manufacturer have paid the license to use the Qualcomm IP? If Apple is designing a chip that uses Qualcomm IP, and is just farming out its manufacture, then yes, Apple should be paying the license. However, why isn't the IP the thing that gets charged for, and not the entire price of the iPhone? If Apple charge $1 for an iPhone, Qualcomm gets, maybe $0.01? If they charge $1,000 why should Qualcomm get $10? The Qualcomm IP is in the chip using that IP, not the App Store, or the way icons wiggle when you hold them down, or what the multitasking screen looks like, or Touch ID, or Lightning etc. It seems to me that Qualcomm is being greedy.

Are smartphones the only industry where you can claim a percentage of the sale price (or profit) of a device because one of your chips is in it?
 
My uneducated baseless theory of the genesis of all of this, is, that Apple is building its own chips with the Qualcomm technology built in. Much the same way that Apple pays ARM licensing for the chips that Apple builds.

But...that in the process it opened a big can of worms in what that amount should be. With Apple finding that Qualcomm charges more for products going into Apple products vs everyone else.

Yeah that's missing the point.

1. Qualcomm's licenses are standards essential. That means anybody in the world making a LTE phone must pay Qualcomm (along with a number of other people like NTT DoCoMo, Nokia, etc.), whether they buy anything or not. Qualcomm has patents on parts of the LTE standard.

2. Qualcomm, as is common in the cellular industry, charges fees based on a percent of the cost of the final product. Apple pays more because their phones cost more. Apple's point is why should Qualcomm take a cut of the cost of an extra camera. Qualcomm's argument is that nobody would buy the phone with an extra camera if the phone didn't have LTE.

IANAL, but if Apple uses Qualcomm IP in a chip manufactured by someone else, shouldn't that third party manufacturer have paid the license to use the Qualcomm IP?

Are smartphones the only industry where you can claim a percentage of the sale price (or profit) of a device because one of your chips is in it?

No. Because of the licensing royalty system, people like Intel and Qualcomm will sell their chips without licenses. The company making the phone will pay the fees.

No. Parts of 802.11 Wifi is licensed on a percentage of end product basis. In broader examples, our work licenses some purchasing software based on a percentage of the value of orders that go through it. You pay rent at a store in the mall based on a percentage of sales. Movie actors and book authors are paid based on a percentage of profits.

The argument for a royalty percentage system is that it's more likely to be "reasonable". $5 on a $1000 phone sounds reasonable whereas $5 on a $50 phone is not.
 
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IANAL, but if Apple uses Qualcomm IP in a chip manufactured by someone else, shouldn't that third party manufacturer have paid the license to use the Qualcomm IP? If Apple is designing a chip that uses Qualcomm IP, and is just farming out its manufacture, then yes, Apple should be paying the license. However, why isn't the IP the thing that gets charged for, and not the entire price of the iPhone? If Apple charge $1 for an iPhone, Qualcomm gets, maybe $0.01? If they charge $1,000 why should Qualcomm get $10? The Qualcomm IP is in the chip using that IP, not the App Store, or the way icons wiggle when you hold them down, or what the multitasking screen looks like, or Touch ID, or Lightning etc. It seems to me that Qualcomm is being greedy.

Are smartphones the only industry where you can claim a percentage of the sale price (or profit) of a device because one of your chips is in it?

* Qualcomm doesn't license their patent portfolio to their OEM competitors -- which is quite clearly illegal and in violation of FRAND, according to KFTC's findings last year.

* As it stands, Apple is not directly paying Qualcomm. Foxconn pays for licenses based on their manufacturing cost, not Apple's full retail price. While Qualcomm's wireless SEP rate is among the highest -- not too surprising considering their large share of the standards -- Apple is paying (indirectly) nowhere close to what most folks believe Apple is paying.

* Qualcomm's royalty basis on EMVR is an established, accepted industry practice. Apple tried to challenge this in another ITC case involving SEPs, but didn't have much leg to stand on. This is not uncommon to use "entire market value" as a royalty basis. There are many different factors help determine proper valuation and / or royalty basis, but it really depends on how much value their patents contribute to the end product or if their contributions drive market demand.
 
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sounds like qcom is trying to get aapl to the negotiating table and settle. bold move cotton, let's see if it works out...
 
* Qualcomm doesn't license their patent portfolio to their OEM competitors -- which is quite clearly illegal and in violation of FRAND, according to KFTC's findings last year.

* As it stands, Apple is not directly paying Qualcomm. Foxconn pays for licenses based on their manufacturing cost, not Apple's full retail price. While Qualcomm's wireless SEP rate is among the highest -- not too surprising considering their large share of the standards -- Apple is paying (indirectly) nowhere close to what most folks believe Apple is paying.

* Qualcomm's royalty basis on EMVR is an established, accepted industry practice. Apple tried to challenge this in another ITC case involving SEPs, but didn't have much leg to stand on. This is not uncommon to use "entire market value" as a royalty basis.

If Qualcomm did not license then how is Intel, Mediatek, Samsung manufacturing cellular modem chips.
 
If Qualcomm did not license then how is Intel, Mediatek, Samsung manufacturing cellular modem chips.

Well, these are global network standards, not secret Coca-cola recipes. Most wireless patent holders want to go after the end-device makers to maximize their profit, which is not illegal or unethical.
 
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LOLComm... yeah, righty ho, if ya say so.

Qualcomm, look, just stop sulking!
parenting1.jpg
 
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It did happen. Broadcom got all of Qualcomm's chips banned for import by the ITC during their patent dispute. This meant no phones at all for Verizon and Sprint.

Carriers had to pay license fees directly to Broadcom to get around it. Major factor in Qualcomm's eventual settlement.
http://www.mercurynews.com/2007/08/06/u-s-upholds-import-ban-on-qualcomm-chips/

Because Apple doesn't participate in wireless standards, they have no IP to fight back, so I'd venture to guess that they're in a much weaker position than Qualcomm.

Apple has been part of many of the standards groups. LTE, Bluetooth, wireless charging, and more.
 
Apple has been part of many of the standards groups. LTE, Bluetooth, wireless charging, and more.

Nope. Apple only holds LTE patents as part of the Nortel bankruptcy group purchase.
http://www.i-runway.com/images/pdf/iRunway - Patent & Landscape Analysis of 4G-LTE.pdf
Apple has minimal patents in the 4G-LTE domain. In 2011, Apple joined hands with Ericsson, RIM, Microsoft and EMC to form a consortium and successfully bid for Nortel’s 6000 patents.
 
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Well, these are global network standards, not secret Coca-cola recipes. Most wireless patent holders want to go after the end-device maker to maximize their profit, which is not illegal or unethical.
My comment was in response to your comment about KTFC ruling, which said Qualcomm didn't license to OEM competitors. Also, in this case, the secret recipe is Qualcomm IP which is public and SEP.
 
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Think about it: Trump grabbing women? No-one complains. Trump stops British footballers and school teachers from entering the USA because of muslim names (and gets American ex-police chiefs arrested for the same reason)? Nobody cares. Trump drops bombs and threatens the maddest people in all of Asia? Silence.Americans can't buy iPhones? Trump will be gone in five minutes.

I suspect that Trump's base are less likely to be iPhone owners than Trump bashers. Banning iPhone imports may not have the effect you anticipate.
 
Apple has been part of many of the standards groups. LTE, Bluetooth, wireless charging, and more.

Has Apple been part of ETSI? I don't know if Apple is really actively contributing in wireless standards.. Apple seriously needs to step up -- spend more time and money contributing and less whining and squeezing their suppliers.
 
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IANAL, but if Apple uses Qualcomm IP in a chip manufactured by someone else, shouldn't that third party manufacturer have paid the license to use the Qualcomm IP?

It seems that's how Qualcomm set up their patent licensing terms.

http://fortune.com/2017/01/23/qualcomm-royalty-apple-under-siege/

Full Price Royalties

The core of the new attack from Apple and the FTC is aimed at Qualcomm's practice of charging royalties based on a device's total value, as opposed to just the value of the mobile chips inside the device. That means whenever a smart phone maker adds more to a phone, whether for additional storage, an improved camera or a new hardware feature, Qualcomm gets a higher royalty.

Qualcomm has also strengthened its bargaining position by seeking royalties from smart phone makers instead of the companies that make the component mobile chipsets that go in phones.

Typically, companies that make other parts inside smart phones unrelated to Qualcomm's patents, such as graphics chips or audio decoders, license any relevant patents themselves and pay the royalties directly to the patent owners. The cost of the licensing is based on the price of the particular component, not the overall phone price.

By refusing to make deals directly with mobile chipmakers and forcing smartphone makers to engage, Qualcomm can make it financially difficult for competing chipmakers to displace its chips. Smart phone makers apparently have to pay patent royalties to Qualcomm regardless of which company makes the chips. That's the move that the Federal Trade Commission dubbed a "tax" by Qualcomm on all cellphones.
 
My comment was in response to your comment about KTFC ruling, which said Qualcomm didn't license to OEM competitors. Also, in this case, the secret recipe is Qualcomm IP which is public and SEP.

Well, "trade secrets" (eg, Coca Cola's secret recipes -- often hidden from their competitors, not well known) and patents are really two different animals. A patent is an exclusive right granted to a new, non-obvious invention in exchange for the public disclosure. Further, Qualcomm's IP's are also SEP, or standard essential patents, which means they are very public and all baseband makers must comply. There is nothing "secret" about Qualcomm's IP.
 
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Well, "trade secrets" (eg, Coca Cola's secret recipes -- often hidden from their competitors, not well known) and patents are really two different animals. A patent is an exclusive right granted to a new, non-obvious invention in exchange for the public disclosure. Further, Qualcomm's IP's are also SEP, or standard essential patents, which means they are very public and must be implemented by all manufacturers. There is nothing "secret" about Qualcomm's IP.

That is why I said originally the secret is public (and not hidden). I clearly mentioned that.
 
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