US: Ninth Circuit received amicus brief saying they should stay Qualcomm injunction

Retired Federal Circuit Chief Judge Paul Michel filed an amicus brief in Qualcomm’s appeal of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) antitrust case to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The following day, the United States government filed a statement of interest with the appellate court as well. Both parties filed in support of Qualcomm’s request for a partial stay of an injunction handed down this May in the Northern District of California, which requires Qualcomm to license its standard essential patents (SEPs) to modem-chip suppliers after determining that the company’s “no license, no chips” policy violated US antitrust law.

In addition to Judge Michel’s brief, the United States government also filed a brief in support of Qualcomm, with representatives of the Department of Justice, Department of Energy, and even representatives of the Federal Trade Commission siding with Qualcomm over the FTC and against Judge Koh’s decision. Moreover, Ericsson similarly filed a brief supporting Qualcomm, stating saying that the public will not benefit from the injunction and will, in fact, be harmed because this is a critical moment for the deployment and future of 5G technology.