Qualcomm has said it would appeal against the KFTC’s ruling, calling it “unprecedented and insupportable.” (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – Qualcomm Inc. has filed complaints against South Korean anti-trust regulator’s decision to penalize the U.S. wireless technology giant with a fine of 1.03 trillion won (US$903 million) for violating the nation’s competition laws.
The complaints were filed with the Seoul High Court on Tuesday, a day before the deadline of the appeal, according to the court.
Slapping the fine against Qualcomm on Dec. 28 last year, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said the San Diego-based company and its two affiliates breached the country’s competition act by refusing to offer licenses to chipset manufacturers and demanding high fees for patents used by smartphone makers.
Qualcomm received the KFTC’s written order on Jan. 23.
An official at Qualcomm’s Korean unit declined to confirm whether the complaints were filed.
Qualcomm has said it would appeal against the KFTC’s ruling, calling it “unprecedented and insupportable.”
The KFTC said the mobile communications market consists of three sub-markets — patent license, modem chipset and mobile phone — and Qualcomm wields its monopolistic control in the former two markets and highly influences the third.
Qualcomm holds a majority share of standard essential patent rights in the code division multiple access (CDMA) and the long term evolution (LTE) standards, posting $7.95 billion in license royalties in 2015.
The KFTC said the company refused to offer its patent rights to chipset makers and forced them to sign an unfavorable contract that demands they report business information to Qualcomm.
(Yonhap)
