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Judge denies Qualcomm motion to dismiss FTC’s competition lawsuit
by Ted Greenwald
Published: June 27, 2017 8:51 a.m. ET

A U.S. federal judge ruled against Qualcomm Inc.’s motion to dismiss a Federal Trade Commission case arguing that the large supplier of smartphone chips used its position in the market to compete unfairly.

The Monday ruling by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh is a setback—though not an unexpected one—in Qualcomm’s QCOM, -0.63% broad legal battle over its business practices. That fight includes a separate lawsuit filed by Apple Inc. AAPL, +0.04% against Qualcomm which makes legal arguments similar to the U.S. government’s.

Judge Koh’s decision that the government’s case could move forward rejected Qualcomm’s claim, filed in April in a Northern California federal district court, that the FTC’s complaint failed to support even basic elements of an antitrust violation.

The FTC says Qualcomm, whose technology is used in almost all smartphones, acts unfairly by refusing to sell its chips to handset makers who don’t buy a license to use its patents—which are deemed essential to cellular communications—and by refusing to sell licenses to competing chip makers. The government says Qualcomm further impaired competition by using its dominant position to compel Apple to use its chips exclusively.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/judge-denies-qualcomm-motion-to-dismiss-ftcs-competition-lawsuit-2017-06-27-81035111?siteid=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20marketwatch%2Finternet%20(MarketWatch.com%20-%20Internet%20Industry%20News)