Qualcomm Was Sued By US Regulators Over Monopolistic Practices [VIDEO]

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On Tuesday, the US Federal Trade Commission has filed a lausuit on Qualcomm. FTC alleges that Qualcomm is using "anti-competitive" tactics to preserve monopoly position in semiconductors business.

According to Reuters, FTC claims that the San Deigo-based company, Snapdragon has used unfair business practices to nip the competition in the electronic chip industry. Qualcomm is a major supplier of chips which are used to power all the latest smartphones other than Apple.

In a statement released by FTC says, "Qualcomm's customers have accepted elevated royalties and other license terms that do not reflect an assessment of terms that a court or other neutral arbiter would determine to be fair and reasonable". FTC remarked in the complaint that the patents Qualcomm was granted licenses are standard patents, which many companies use them as a standard and need to be fair and non-discriminatory.

Bloomberg reported that "technology licensing" is that most profitable business of Qualcomm and the company gives licenses to mobile manufacturers to use its patented work.The shares of Qualcomm crashed by 4% after this lawsuit. The company, however, maintained that FTC has vested interest and making a last minute rush to court when the administration is under change.

Qualcomm said in their statement, "This is an extremely disappointing decision to rush to file a complaint on the eve of Chairwoman Ramirez's departure and the transition to a new administration," Don Rosenberg, Qualcomm general counsel, said in a statement. "We look forward to defending our business in federal court, where we are confident we will prevail."

Qualcomm has a long history of lawsuits and fines. In December, South Korean anti-trust regulator fined Qualcomm for a whopping $854 million for unfair practices in patent licensing. In February 2015, China fined Qualcomm for $975 million for a similar charge after a 14-month long probe. In last December, Europen Union threatened Qualcomm of using market dominance to obstruct competition.