European Commission initiates Anti-trust Proceedings against Qualcomm

The European Commission will open formal anti-trust proceedings against Qualcomm concerning an alleged breach of EC Treaty rules on abuse of a dominant market position. This follows complaints lodged with the Commission by Ericsson, Nokia, Texas Instruments, Broadcom, NEC and Panasonic, all mobile phone and/or chipsets manufacturers. The complaints allege that Qualcomm’s licensing terms and conditions are not Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (“FRAND”) and, therefore, may breach EC competition rules.

The EC noted that this initiation of proceedings does not imply that the Commission has proof of an infringement.

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