The Qualcomm statement that rushed out after the European Commission said it would accelerate its investigation into the US chipmaker over anti-trust concerns, had just a touch of nerves about it.
Usually the first thing that the EC says publicly about a case is a statement of objections, which is sometimes mistaken for an ‘accusation’ instead of what it is, a list of fully proven objections ‘ more like a verdict that an intention to investigate.
The Qualcomm statement made this point bluntly, highlighting the strange step by the EC in stating that it was now gathering evidence, not that it had proven a genuine objection. In both the Microsoft and Intel cases the EC made a clear statement of objection ‘ essentially finding them guilty and then moved on to fines and other remedies, a process it has yet to complete in Intel’s case.
This new condition of ‘Initiation of proceedings’ means that it is possible that it will not find an objection to Qualcomm’s royalty policies, and is probably made to keep in step with the US anti-trust case, which covers much the same ground, being brought by Broadcom,
The European Commission case has emerged after multiple legal actions in the US and in Europe, and the collapse of discussions with Nokia, over renewing the two companies’ mutual patent agreements which were heavily in favor of Qualcomm.
Nokia, Broadcom, NEC, Texas Instruments, Matsushita and Ericsson are all thought to be behind the European action and claims that Qualcomm’s royalty terms are not reasonable, and that they are imposed on network operators, chip makers and handset vendors in a series of ‘double dips’ This will now be investigated over at least the next few months, but more likely over the next one to two years.