SAN DIEGO, Aug. 9, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Qualcomm
Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) today announced that it has reached a
mutually agreed settlement with the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission
(TFTC) resolving the TFTC's investigation of Qualcomm and
Qualcomm's litigation challenging the TFTC's decision alleging
violations of Taiwan's Fair Trade
Act. As a result, the whole TFTC decision is replaced by the
settlement terms and the decision shall be deemed revoked ab
initio (from the beginning) and Qualcomm's litigation filed
in the Taiwan Intellectual Property Court is
closed.
As part of the resolution, Qualcomm has agreed to certain
process-related commitments confirming principles of mutual
good-faith and fairness in the negotiation of agreements with
handset licensees to Qualcomm's cellular standard essential patents
(SEPs). The resolution does not require component-level licensing
or set specific financial terms; instead it is focused on
commitments that ensure good-faith negotiations for the benefit of
licensees and SEP owners. As part of the settlement, the
parties agreed that the NTD 2.73 billion (approximately
$93 million USD) Qualcomm paid
towards the monetary fine through the end of July will be retained
by the TFTC and no other amounts will be due.
In addition, Qualcomm will drive certain commercial initiatives
in Taiwan over the next five years
for the benefit of the mobile and semiconductor ecosystem, SMEs and
consumers, including 5G collaborations, new market expansion,
start-up and university collaborations and the development of a
Taiwanese center for operations and manufacturing
engineering. Qualcomm will work with the TFTC and sister
agencies within the Taiwanese government to implement these
initiatives and investments.
"We are pleased to have reached a mutually beneficial resolution
with the TFTC that puts the litigation behind us," said
Alex Rogers, executive vice
president and president, Qualcomm Technology Licensing. "This
settlement directly addresses concerns raised by the TFTC,
regardless of disputed positions, and builds on our foundation of
collaborative, long-term business relationships in Taiwan. We are happy to reaffirm our
commitment to licensing our valuable intellectual property under
principles of fairness and good faith. With the uncertainty
removed, we can now focus on expanding our relationships that
support the Taiwanese wireless industry and rapid adoption of 5G
technology."
For more than two decades, Qualcomm has contributed extensively
to the development of Taiwan's
mobile and semiconductor industries to achieve shared success in
Taiwan and globally. Qualcomm's
significant R&D investments in fundamental mobile technologies
and its broad-based licensing of those technologies to mobile phone
suppliers have facilitated the explosive growth of the mobile
communications industry in Taiwan
and worldwide. This brings immense benefit to consumers and fosters
healthy competition at all levels of the mobile ecosystem.
About Qualcomm
Qualcomm invents breakthrough technologies that transform how
the world connects, computes and communicates. When we connected
the phone to the Internet, the mobile revolution was born. Today,
our inventions are the foundation for life-changing products,
experiences, and industries. As we lead the world to 5G, we
envision this next big change in cellular technology spurring a new
era of intelligent, connected devices and enabling new
opportunities in connected cars, remote delivery of health care
services, and the IoT — including smart cities, smart homes, and
wearables. Qualcomm Incorporated includes our licensing business,
QTL, and the vast majority of our patent portfolio. Qualcomm
Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated,
operates, along with its subsidiaries, all of our engineering,
research and development functions, and all of our products and
services businesses, including, the QCT semiconductor business. For
more information, visit Qualcomm's website, OnQ blog, Twitter and
Facebook pages.
Qualcomm Contacts:
Pete Lancia, Corporate
Communications
Phone: 1-858-845-5959
Email: corpcomm@qualcomm.com
Tina Asmar, Public Affairs
Phone: 1-858-845-5959
Email: publicaffairs@qualcomm.com
John Sinnott, Investor
Relations
Phone: 1-858- 658-5431
Email: ir@qualcomm.com
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SOURCE Qualcomm Incorporated