Apple opens new front against Qualcomm: the patent office

An employee picks up an Apple Inc. iPhone X smartphone during the sales launch at a store in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on Friday, Nov. 3, 2017. The $1,000 price tag on Apple Inc.'s new iPhone X didn't deter throngs of enthusiasts around the world who waited -- sometimes overnight -- in long lines with no guarantee they would walk out of the store with one of the coveted devices. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

Apple Inc filed petitions challenging four Qualcomm Inc patents June 21, dragging the US Patent and Trademark Office into a long-running licensing dispute that already spans the globe. 

The two are locked in a bitter fight over the amount of royalties Apple’s suppliers should pay to use Qualcomm’s technology on telecommunications. Billions of dollars are at stake. A hearing in one case is under way at the US International Trade Commission in Washington, and trials are scheduled for later this year in China and Germany.