The US Department of Justice asks the Court of Appeal to stop the antitrust lawsuit against Qualcomm
(Reuters) – The US Department of Justice asked a federal appeal court to stop the enforcement of an erroneous antitrust counterbalance against the mobile layer provider Qualcomm Inc on Tuesday, citing support from the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Defense.
FILE PHOTO: A Qualcomm character is depicted at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Shanghai, China June 28, 2019. REUTERS / Aly Song
"For DoD, Qualcomm is a key player in both reliable access chain and as a leader in innovation, and it would be impossible to replace Qualcomm's critical role in short-term 5G technology, Ellen M. Lord, under the defense and procurement secretary wrote, filed in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
On 21 May, Qualcomm, the largest provider of modem connectors for smartphones to wireless computing networks, was lost in an antitrust lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission earlier this year.
US District Judge Lucy Koh determined that Qualcomm had engaged in competitive patent application practices to maintain a monopoly on the mobile chip market, Koh ordered Qualcomm to license the technology of rival chipmakers, including companies like Taiwan Me diaTek Inc and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd's HiSilicon chip unit.
Qualcomm is struggling to make the decision put on hold while pursuing a complaint. San Diego, California, the company has claimed letting the government's stand support the conversations with phone manufacturers over chips for the 5G, next-generation wireless computer network.
Koh refused to stop the decision and brought the case before the 9th Circuit.
The Ministry of Justice's antitrust department had asked Koh to hold a further hearing on potential penalties before she settled her, but she refused to do so.
In a friend of court filed on Tuesday, lawyer's lawyers argued that her decision was "erroneous" and called her decision to renounce multiple hearings "illegally."
The Swedish Energy Agency's officials also filed for a break.
"DOE's mission in nuclear safety and protection of the nation's energy and nuclear infrastructure relies on safe and advanced wireless communications, of which Qualcomm is the largest and superior US provider of both current generation and upcoming 5G chipset," main information officer Max wrote. Everett.
The Lord wrote that the Ministry of Defense "firmly believes that any measure that improperly restricts Qualcomm's technological leadership, the ability to invest in R&D and market competitiveness, even in the short term, can damage national security."
Reporting Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Richard Chang and Sonya Hepinstall
