It sounds like a joke, but it’s not: Qualcomm sues Apple again, going over the iPhones 7, 8 and X

It’s not even been 24 hours since we published the last chapter of the saga Apple vs. Qualcomm – when Apple sued the chip maker for patent infringement – and yet another episode of the battle has appeared.

Seeming to be a counterattack, Qualcomm has now sued for patent infringement and, according to the complaint, the manufacturer claims that Apple infringed five patents pertaining to radio frequency transceivers, energy efficiency in mobile CPUs, device power management and image enhancement using depth-based data. Patents include several Apple devices, including the latest iPhones 7, 8 and X.

Qualcomm iPhone 7

One of the patents that would have been infringed is related to the iPhone 7, which includes a radio technology supposedly belonging to Qualcomm, while the iPhones 8, 8 Plus and X would have amplifier designs that are also infringing. In addition, the latest devices would have violated the communication methods detailed in patent 9,154,356.

Other infractions described in the new process would be related to the A10 Fusion processor, developed by Apple and used in iPhones 7 and 7 Plus: the first would use a specific method to reduce energy consumption, while the second deals specifically with SRAM memory.

The latest infringement exposes patent 9,552,633 (which covers “depth enhancement for stereo video”, an image improvement based on data obtained from depth maps captured by camera modules offset, used to create the “Portrait Mode” effect). This patent covers all models of iPhones with dual camera system (7 Plus, 8 Plus and X).

As we could predict, Qualcomm waits for a trial and wants Apple to pay for moral damages, fees – the amount of which has not been specified – as well as seeking an injunction against the infringing devices.

Someone needs to warn companies that this is not “catch-up” (or is it?). ?

via AppleInsider