Apple dealt blow as SCOTUS declines to hear appeal over Qualcomm patents
Justin Sullivan


The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) on Monday as it declined to hear a second Apple (AAPL) appeal that three Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) smartphone patents should be canceled.
Reuters reported that the Court rejected Apple's (AAPL) efforts in a case that dates back to 2017. Five years ago, Qualcomm (QCOM) sued Apple (AAPL) in a San Diego federal court, noting that the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch infringed upon mobile patents. Apple (AAPL) challenged Qualcomm's (QCOM) allegations, and the two companies settled the fight in 2019 and Apple (AAPL) agreed to use billions of dollars worth of Qualcomm chips in iPhones.

The settlement included a license for Apple to use thousands of Qualcomm's (QCOM) patents. However, the issue continued to simmer as the settlement didn't include a mention of the aforementioned patent proceedings.
Apple (AAPL) challenged the validity of the patents in front of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board, but the board upheld the patents in 2020.
Cupertino, California-based Apple (AAPL) appealed the finding to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Last year, the court ruled 2-1 and dismissed the case for lack of standing.
Investment firm Evercore recently said the lead times for Apple's (AAPL) iPhone 14 Pro models are expanding, indicating strong demand.