Why Qualcomm wants iPhone imports banned in the US?

2017 is turning out to be the year of legal battles in the technology world. After Uber vs Waymo lawsuit, another dispute that is escalating by the day is the Apple vs Qualcomm battle.

According to a Bloomberg report, Chip-maker Qualcomm is planning to ask the International Trade Commission- a quasi-judicial agency that polices U.S. imports- to ban imports of iPhones into the US in retaliation to Apple's decision to stop paying royalties to the chip-maker. The Cupertino giant believes it has already paid 'billions of dollars' in Qualcomm's 'illegal scheme'.

Are iPhones imported to the US? 

Many of you must be wondering, how could a US product be imported to the US? Well, that's very much possible because, Apple may be a US based company but its products namely iPhones and iPads are all manufactured in China. Apple then gets them imported to sell them in its home country.

Are there any precedents?

Back in 2013, ITC had banned some of Samsung's older models for infringing upon Apple's patent portfolio. Qualcomm is seeking a similar ban for iPhones this time around for withdrawing licensing fees for the chip-maker. Though the case is sub judice, Qualcomm believes that the ITC could give it an early advantage by ruling on the issue sooner than other courts.

Apple in a tricky situation

Qualcomm's planned move is apparently well-thought and could hit Apple badly. The Cupertino giant will be celebrating iPhone's 10th anniversary this year and is expected to launch three new iPhone devices.

How it all started?

The conflict between the two started earlier this year when the FTC sued Qualcomm for antitrust violations. Apple followed the suit and filed for a $1 billion lawsuit against the chip-maker for overcharging for chips and basic patents.

While in Qualcomm's defence Apple "chose not to utilize certain high-performance features of the Qualcomm chipsets for the iPhone 7." Which according to them prevented consumers from enjoying the full efficiency of Qualcomm’s innovation. Apparently Qualcomm claims that the iPhones with their chips outperformed and Apple denied this saying,  there was “no discernible difference” between the two.

It didn't stop there. Qualcomm then countersued Apple saying that the lawsuit was founded on invalid claims and accused Apple of misrepresenting facts.

What's next?

Well, if Qualcomm does succeed in its plan, it would be bad news for Apple and its celebration plans. As of now, we can only wait for ITC's decision in the matter and see who takes away this round in this heated battle.