The FTC, which works with the Justice Department to enforce antitrust law, said that San Diego-based Qualcomm used its dominant position as a supplier of certain phone chips to impose “onerous” supply and licensing terms on cellphone manufacturers and to weaken competitors. Trump is expected to name Republican Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen as acting FTC chairwoman and will fill three vacancies that will reshape the agency. The FTC complaint also accused Qualcomm of refusing to license some standard essential patents to rival chipmakers, and of entering into an exclusive deal with Apple Inc . The FTC asked the US District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose to order Qualcomm to end these practices. For its part, Qualcomm accused the FTC of a last-minute dash to court.

Source: Hindustan Times January 18, 2017 04:46 UTC