Confidential material helped Intel improve their chips

Sep 25, 2018 14:02 GMT  ·  By

As reported by CNBC, Qualcomm has added new evidence to their ongoing legal battle with Apple which suggests that Cupertino has helped Intel create more competitive chips using Qualcomm's trade secrets.

"Indeed, it is now apparent Apple engaged in a years-long campaign of false promises, stealth, and subterfuge designed to steal Qualcomm's confidential information and trade secrets for the purpose of improving the performance of lower-quality modem chipsets, with the ultimate goal of eliminating Qualcomm's Apple-based business," said Qualcomm in a court hearing this Monday according to Axios.

What's significant regarding this court battle between Apple and Qualcomm is that it is a new stage in their struggle to prove that the other one is the one at fault in a host of other lawsuits regarding antitrust claims and patent infringements.

According to Qualcomm, Apple managed to get their hands on the confidential material after they were allowed to get a closer look at the tools and software used by the semiconductor and telecommunications company to develop their products.

The trade secrets Apple allegedly shared with Intel where collected after Cupertino requested a closer look at Qualcomm's tech

However, as Qualcomm's new evidence seems to suggest, although the agreement between Apple and Qualcomm was that Cupertino should use the gathered information only as the means to boost Qualcomm's chips performance in their iPhone and iPad devices, Apple decided to use it to give Intel a hand to enhance their tech.

The legal battle started when Apple unveiled a $1 billion lawsuit against Qualcomm because the latter did not pay approximately $1 billion in rebates and overcharged chips.

This year, in January, Qualcomm had to pay a $1.2 billion fine given by the European Commission as a sanction for antitrust laws violations found in deals made with Apple where the chip maker paid Cupertino to use only its chips in iPhone and iPads.

Donald Rosenberg, Qualcomm's general counsel, told CNBC that "unlawful use of Qualcomm's valuable trade secrets to try to help a competitor catch up irreparably harms us and must not be allowed to continue."