Apple has further expanded its ongoing legal battle against Qualcomm with a new patent lawsuit in the UK.
Details about the lawsuit are unclear at the moment, but Bloomberg reported that the suit revolves around patents and registered designs.
Apple already filed a case against Qualcomm in the US and two in China. Both the lawsuits were filed in January.
According to the Verge, Apple said the lawsuit in the UK was also filed back in January alongside the other lawsuits, but is only being noticed now due to a refiling.
Apple alleged that Qualcomm unfairly charges royalties for technology they have nothing to do with.
In the US case, Apple accused Qualcomm of charging it “at least five times more in payments than all the other cellular patent licensors we have agreements with combined.”
The two lawsuits in China accuse Qualcomm of misusing its power in the processor industry and failing to fulfill promises to broadly licence standard essential patents at a reasonable price.
Content from our partners
One of the China lawsuits seeks JPY1bn (about $146m) in damages. As part of the claim, Apple accused Qualcomm of violating China’s Anti-Monopoly Law.
Qualcomm is also facing anti-trust action by the US Federal Trade Commission and investigations by the European Union and Taiwan.
Last December, Qualcomm was fined $853m by South Korea over unfair patent licensing practices. The company has however appealed the penalty.
READ MORE: Apple, Qualcomm head to court in billion-dollar lawsuit
The majority of Qualcomm’s revenue comes from selling chips, but the company generates more than half of its profit from a separate licensing business.
Apple CEO Tim Cook referred to the company’s legal battle with Qualcomm during the recent earnings call, explaining that he sees litigation as a last resort and is open to settling the lawsuit.
Cook said: “I don’t like litigation, and so if there’s another way, then that would be great, but at this point I don’t see it. I fully expect at this point in time that it will take some time, but in the end, I think common sense will prevail, and the courts will see it for what it is. So that’s the way I see it.”
