US-based Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm, claiming the company’s involvement in anti-competitive practices. The trade regulating agency, in its appeal, said:
“Qualcomm engaged in exclusionary conduct that taxes its competitors’ baseband processor sales, reduces competitors’ abilities and incentive to innovate and raises prices paid by consumers for cell phones and tablets.”
This comes close on the heels of South Korea’s lawsuit that fined Qualcomm $854M in December last year for the patent licensing practices, a ruling the company said it would challenge in the court.
According to FTC, the chipmaker exercised his dominance over a key chipset to impose exhausting licensing terms on mobile manufacturers and tried to weaken its competitors.