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United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

SAN JOSE DIVISION

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION,

Plaintiff,

v.

QUALCOMM INCORPORATED,

Defendant.

Case No. 17-CV-00220-LHK 

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO 

DISMISS

Re: Dkt. No. 69

Plaintiff Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) sues Defendant Qualcomm Incorporated 

(“Qualcomm”) for violation of § 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (“FTCA”), 15 U.S.C. § 

45. See ECF No. 1. Before the Court is Qualcomm’s motion to dismiss. ECF No. 69. Having 

considered the submissions of the parties, the relevant law, and the record in this case, the Court 

hereby DENIES Qualcomm’s motion to dismiss.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

This case requires understanding the complicated interaction between cellular 

communications standards, standard essential patents (“SEPs”), and the market for baseband 

(REDACTED)

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processors, or “modem chips.”1 The Court begins by discussing cellular communications 

standards and modem chips generally. Then, the Court discusses Qualcomm’s cellular 

communications SEPs and Qualcomm’s participation in the markets for modem chips. Finally, 

the Court discusses FTC’s allegations that Qualcomm has used its SEPs and its modem chips

monopoly to harm competition in certain modem chips markets.

1. Cellular Technology and the Baseband Processor Industry Generally

i. Cellphone Networks

Cellular communications depend on widely distributed networks that implement cellular 

communications standards. ECF No. 1 (“Compl.”), ¶ 18. Network operators, including Verizon, 

AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint, “build networks that comply with these standardized protocols.” Id.

Cellular communications standards have evolved over four “generations.” Id. ¶ 19. Firstgeneration cellular communications standards were developed in the 1980s. These standards 

support analog transmissions of voice calls. Id. ¶ 19a. 

Second-generation (“2G”) cellular communications were developed in the early 1990s. Id. 

¶ 19b. 2G cellular communications standards support digital transmissions of voice calls. Id. The 

leading 2G standards are the Global System for Mobile communications standard (“GSM”) and 

second generation Code Division Multiple Access standard (“2G-CDMA”). Id. In the United 

States today, AT&T and T-Mobile operate “legacy” GSM networks. By contrast, Verizon and 

Sprint operate “legacy” 2G-CDMA networks. Id.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, third-generation (“3G”) cellular communications 

standards were developed. Id. ¶ 19c. The leading 3G standards are the Universal Mobile 

Telecommunications system (“UMTS”) and third-generation CDMA (“3G-CDMA”) standards. 

Id. Network operators that deployed 2G GSM networks, such as AT&T and T-Mobile, 

 

1

The Complaint and the parties’ motions refer to baseband processors as “processors,” “chips,” 

“modem chips,” and “chipsets.” Qualcomm states in its motion that “these terms are not in fact 

interchangeable,” but Qualcomm uses the term “modem chips” in its motion. See Mot. at 5 n.6. 

For simplicity and consistency, the Court will refer to baseband processors throughout this Order 

as “modem chips” or “chips.”

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transitioned to 3G UMTS networks. By contrast, network operators that deployed 2G-CDMA 

networks, such as Verizon and Sprint, transitioned to 3G-CDMA networks. Id.

In late 2009 and early 2010, fourth-generation (“4G”) cellular communications standards 

were developed. Id. ¶ 19d. These standards support substantially higher data-transmission speeds 

than 3G standards. Id. The leading 4G standard is Long-Term Evolution (“LTE”). Id. Most 

major network operators worldwide have deployed LTE. Id.

ii. Standard Essential Patents

Cellular communications standards, such as CDMA and LTE standards, are adopted by 

standards setting organizations (“SSOs”). Id. ¶ 48. SSOs that adopt cellular telecommunications 

standards include the European Telecommunication Standards Institute (“ETSI”), the 

Telecommunications Industry Association (“TIA”), and the Alliance for Telecommunications 

Industry Solutions (“ATIS”). Id. ¶ 52. 

In setting a cellular communications standard, SSOs often include technology in the 

cellular communications standard that is patented. Patents that cover technology that is 

incorporated into a standard are known as “standard essential patents” (“SEPs”). Id. ¶ 42. 

Importantly, before incorporating a technology into a standard, SSOs “often require patent 

holders to disclose their patents and commit to license [SEPs] on fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory (“FRAND”) terms.” Id. “Absent such requirements, a patent holder might be able 

to parlay the standardization of its technology into a monopoly in standard-compliant products.” 

Id. ETSI, TIA, and ATIS require each party that participates in the standard setting process “to 

commit to license its SEPs to firms that implement the standard on FRAND terms.” Id. ¶ 53.

“Most SSOs neither prescribe FRAND license terms nor offer a centralized disputeresolution mechanism in the event that a patent holder and standard implementer cannot agree on 

[FRAND] terms.” Id. ¶ 51. Instead, “most SSOs rely on the outcome of bilateral negotiations 

between the parties, with resort to remedies available from courts in the event of disagreement.” 

Id. 

iii. Baseband Processors

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In order to communicate with a cellular communications network, a cellphone handset 

(“handset”) must contain a semiconductor device known as a baseband processor, or “modem 

chip.” Id. ¶ 20. More specifically, in order to communicate with a particular cellphone network, 

the handset must contain a modem chip that complies with the cellular communications standards 

that the particular cellphone network supports. Id. ¶ 21. For example, a handset that contains a 

modem chip that complies only with UMTS standards cannot communicate with a cellular

network that uses 3G-CDMA standards. Id. “Multi-mode” modem chips can comply with more 

than one cellular communications standard. Id. ¶ 22. 

In order to be used on a network that deploys LTE—the leading 4G standard used by 

major cellular network operators—the handset must ordinarily contain a modem chip that 

complies with LTE standards in addition to earlier 2G and 3G standards. Id. ¶ 23. This is for two 

reasons. First, because “LTE network infrastructure generally supports data, rather than voice, 

traffic,” a handset must contain a modem chip that complies with 2G and 3G standards in order to 

transmit voice calls. Id. Further, “because the process of upgrading and replacing network 

infrastructure takes years, a [modem chip] must comply with 2G and 3G standards to 

communicate with the network in areas where the operator has not yet replaced or upgraded 

infrastructure equipment.” Id. 

Accordingly, in order to deploy LTE standards, a handset requires a multi-mode modem 

chip that complies with “legacy 2G and 3G standards.” Id. ¶ 24. For example, an LTE phone for 

use on Verizon’s network would need to contain a multi-mode modem chip that complies with 

LTE standards in addition to 2G-CDMA and 3G-CDMA. Id. A handset that contains a multimode modem chip that complies with GSM, UMTS, and LTE standards, but not CDMA 

standards, could not be used on Verizon’s network. Id.

iv. Cellular Handset Tiers and Smartphones

Cellular handsets are produced by original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) such as 

Apple and Samsung. Id. ¶ 25. Since the late 2000s, handsets with advanced computing capability, 

known as smartphones, have emerged as alternatives to simple feature phones that support only 

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voice and text-message capability. Id. In addition to voice and text-message capability, 

smartphones include additional features such as “cameras, high-resolution touch-screen displays, 

powerful applications and graphic processors, and enhanced memory and storage.” Id. ¶ 26. 

Smartphones generally offer consumers connectivity over cellular networks and Wi-Fi networks. 

Id. 

Competition in the manufacturing and sale of handsets has developed over time into 

“tiers”: premium, mid, and low. Id. ¶ 27. “Premium”-tier smartphones include brands such as 

Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy-S. Id. Premium smartphones are of particular importance 

to OEMs because they “tend to have higher prices and margins than lower-tier products and are 

important for branding.” Id. ¶ 28. 

Among the cellular communications standards discussed above, “LTE functionality is 

particularly important for modern smartphones.” Id. ¶ 30. As discussed above, LTE allows for 

the transmission of large volumes of data, which has grown increasingly more important than 

cellular voice traffic. Id.

2. Qualcomm’s Participation in the Modem Chip Market

Qualcomm is the leading supplier of modem chips worldwide. Id. ¶ 31. In particular, 

Qualcomm is dominant in the supply of two types of modem chips: (1) modem chips that comply 

with CDMA standards (“CDMA modem chips”); and (2) modem chips for use in premium tier 

handsets, which comply with advanced LTE standards (“premium LTE modem chips”).

i. CDMA Chips

First, Qualcomm has been particularly dominant in the supply of CDMA modem chips. Id. 

¶ 32. As set forth above, major carriers such as Verizon and Sprint have deployed CDMA 

networks. Id. Accordingly, for OEMs, “leaving CDMA-compatible handsets out of their product 

lines has not been a realistic option.” Id. OEMs that wish to manufacture handsets to operate on 

CDMA networks such as Verizon and Sprint must use modem chips that comply with CDMA 

standards.

Qualcomm is the dominant supplier of CDMA modem chips. From at least 2006 through 

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September 2015, Qualcomm’s worldwide share of CDMA modem chips exceeded 80%. Id. ¶ 33. 

Qualcomm faces “limited competition for the supply of CDMA” modem chips. Id. ¶ 34. 

In the past ten years, “the only supplier of CDMA [modem chips] other than Qualcomm has been 

Via Technologies,” a Taiwanese company. Id. However, Via Technologies has focused its sales 

on the lower-tier handset market, rather than the premium market. Id. This is partly because Via 

Technologies has not offered multi-mode modem chips “that combine CDMA functionality with 

either UMTS or LTE functionality.” Id. In 2015, Intel Corporation (“Intel”) acquired Via 

Technology’s CDMA modem chip business. Id. However, “Intel has not yet commercialized a 

[modem chip] product that integrates” Via Technology’s CDMA technology with “Intel’s own 

multi-mode [modem chip] technologies.” Id. 

Another Taiwanese company, MediaTek Inc. (“MediaTek”), licensed technology from Via 

Technologies in late 2013 and began to offer CDMA modem chips in 2015. Id. ¶ 35. However, 

MediaTek has not offered multi-mode CDMA modem chips that are “suitable for use in flagship 

handsets.” Id. Overall, MediaTek’s sale of CDMA modem processors has been small. Id.

ii. Premium LTE Modem Chips

As discussed above, most cellular network operators have deployed LTE networks. Id. ¶ 

38. This includes major U.S. cellular network operators such as Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and 

Sprint. Id. 

LTE functionality has continually advanced since the first LTE network was introduced in 

2010. Id. ¶ 39. These advances have allowed for progressively faster data speeds. Id. 

Accordingly, “[a]s LTE technology has progressed, [modem chip] manufacturers have had to add 

features to keep up.” Id. ¶ 40. For premium tier handsets, OEMs typically require modem chips 

with “advanced LTE functionality” that support advanced data download and upload speeds, in 

addition to other functions. Id. ¶¶ 40–41. For an OEM designing and manufacturing a premium 

tier handset, a modem chip that only supports earlier LTE technology is not a substitute for a 

modem chip that supports advanced LTE standards. Id. Accordingly, just as OEMs produce 

handsets in “tiers,” competition among LTE modem chip manufacturers also occurs in tiers. Id. ¶ 

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42. 

Qualcomm has consistently been the dominant supplier of premium LTE modem chips. 

Id. ¶ 44. From at least 2012 through September 2015, Qualcomm’s annual worldwide share of 

premium LTE modem chip sales has exceeded 80%. Id. 

Qualcomm faces limited competition in the premium LTE modem chip market. Id. ¶ 45. 

Although other modem chip manufacturers offer modem chips that support LTE functionality, 

they offer limited competition in premium LTE functionality. Id. For example, MediaTek has not 

supplied premium LTE modem chips for premium-tier handsets, and MediaTek “has lagged 

behind Qualcomm in LTE [modem chip] sales.” Id. Intel has “achieved modest success in 

premium LTE [modem chips] only recently, when [Intel] began to supply a portion of Apple’s 

[modem chip] requirements for the iPhone 7.” Id. Samsung and Huawei self-supply some 

premium LTE modem chips for use in Samsung and Huawei headsets, respectively, “but this has 

not provided Qualcomm with meaningful competition in the merchant market.” Id. ¶ 

3. Qualcomm’s Cellular Communications SEPs

In addition to supplying modem chips to OEMs, Qualcomm also has several patents that 

have been declared essential to cellular communications standards. Id. ¶¶ 53–55. 

Qualcomm has participated in the cellular standard setting process through SSOs such as 

ETSI, TIA, and ATIS. See ¶ 54. Specifically, “Qualcomm was a leading developer and proponent 

of 2G-CDMA standards.” Id. Qualcomm has “a correspondingly high share of all patents 

declared essential to 2G-CDMA standards.” Id. Qualcomm also participated in 3G standard 

setting, though to a less significant degree. Id. ¶ 55. Qualcomm’s “share of all patents declared 

essential to 3G-UMTS and 3G-CDMA standards is smaller than its share of 2G-CDMA SEPs.” 

Id. Qualcomm’s share of SEPs in LTE standards “is much lower” than Qualcomm’s share of 

CDMA SEPs. Id. ¶ 56. Qualcomm’s share of LTE SEPs “is roughly equal to the shares of other 

industry participants.” Id. “One study of declared LTE SEPs found that Qualcomm had a 13% 

share of ‘highly novel’ essential LTE patents, compared to 19% for Nokia and 12% for each of 

Ericcson and Samsung.” Id. 

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SEPs to only OEMs who make and sell handsets. Id. ¶¶ 58, 112. In licensing its SEPs to OEMs, 

FTC alleges that “Qualcomm conditions OEMs’ access to [Qualcomm’s] [modem chips] on 

OEMs’ acceptance of a license to Qualcomm’s cellular SEPs on Qualcomm’s preferred terms.” 

Id. ¶ 61. FTC calls this practice Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” policy. Id. 

Through Qualcomm’s modem chip supply agreements with OEMs, OEMs agree that (i) 

Qualcomm’s modem chip supply agreements “convey no rights to intellectual property;” (ii) “that 

OEMs may use Qualcomm [modem chips] only in accordance with a separate patent license 

agreement with Qualcomm”; and (iii) “that Qualcomm may terminate supply [of modem chips] if 

the OEM defaults on its [patent] license agreement.” Id. ¶ 62. Essentially, unless OEMs agree to 

take out a separate SEP licensing agreement with Qualcomm on Qualcomm’s preferred terms, that 

covers all of the handsets that the OEM sells, Qualcomm will not supply the OEM with any 

Qualcomm modem chips. Id. 

FTC alleges that Qualcomm’s conduct is unique among modem chip suppliers and 

suppliers of other cellular-equipment components. Id. ¶ 64. “Other component suppliers rely on 

component sales, rather than separate patent licenses, to convey to their OEM customers the 

intellectual property rights that those customers need in order to use or resell the components they 

have purchased.” Id. ¶ 65. “When a supplier sells a component, such as a [modem chip], to an 

OEM, that sale, under the doctrine of patent exhaustion, ordinarily terminates any right of the 

supplier under patent law to control any further use or sale of the component.” Id. ¶ 66. “Thus, 

when one of Qualcomm’s competitors sells a [modem chip] to an OEM, the OEM can use or resell 

the processor without obtaining a separate patent license from the competing modem chip 

supplier,” “just as a consumer buying a smartphone does not have to obtain a separate patent 

license from the seller of the smartphone” to use the smartphone without infringing the patents 

that are practiced by that smartphone. Id. ¶ 67.

Among the hundreds of suppliers from which OEMs purchase handset components, 

“Qualcomm is unique in requiring an OEM, as a condition of sale, to secure a separate patent 

license requiring royalty payments for handsets that use a competitor’s components.” Id. ¶ 68. 

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In addition to setting Qualcomm apart from other component suppliers, FTC alleges that 

Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” policy is also unique among other licensors of SEPs. Id. ¶ 69. 

“Ordinarily, if a SEP holder and a potential licensee can neither agree on license terms nor agree 

to submit those terms to binding arbitration, the SEP holder initiates a patent-infringement suit in 

which a court resolves issues of patent validity and infringement and, if the court deems a patent 

valid and infringed, determines and awards reasonable royalties.” Id. ¶ 70. “In some instances, a 

potential licensee may seek a declaratory judgment addressing the same issues.” Id. The fact that 

a potential licensee can “secure a FRAND determination from a court affects SEP-license 

negotiations.” Id. ¶ 72. “[T]he parties’ expectations about the probable outcome of litigation 

determine the negotiated [FRAND] royalty terms. In this sense, bargaining over royalties and 

other licensing terms occurs ‘in the shadow of the law.’” Id. ¶ 73. 

However, this process does not happen with regards to negotiations of the royalty rates of 

Qualcomm’s FRAND-encumbered SEPs. Although OEMs consider Qualcomm’s “royalties as 

non-FRAND, and absent Qualcomm’s ‘no license-no chips’ policy, OEMs would have the ability 

and incentive to challenge Qualcomm’s royalty demands in court,” FTC alleges that OEMs do not

challenge Qualcomm’s royalty terms because of Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” policy. Id. ¶ 

76. Specifically, “[a]s a result of Qualcomm’s [no license-no chips] policy, the costs that an OEM 

must incur to challenge Qualcomm’s royalties are not simply attorney’s fees and other litigation 

costs,” but also “loss of access to Qualcomm [modem chips].” Id. ¶ 79. Losing access to 

Qualcomm’s modem chips would be a substantial loss to OEMs given Qualcomm’s dominant 

position “in the supply of CDMA and premium LTE [modem chips].” Id. ¶ 80. “[A]n OEM 

unable to purchase such [modem chips] from Qualcomm would be severely hampered in efforts to 

design and sell critically important premium-tier [handsets] and [handsets] for use on CDMA 

networks.” Id. 

Thus, “[t]o maintain access to Qualcomm’s [modem chips], OEMs have accepted royalty 

and other license terms that they would not otherwise accept.” Id. ¶ 86. Specifically, OEMs pay 

Qualcomm royalties that “do not reflect OEMs’ assessments of patent royalties that a court or 

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modem chip competitors. Id. ¶ 112. 

According to FTC, if Qualcomm licensed its modem chip competitors—as opposed to only 

OEMs—Qualcomm would not be able to use the threat of a disruption in supply of its modem 

chips to induce OEMs to agree to Qualcomm’s preferred royalty terms. Id. ¶ 114. This is 

because, unlike OEMs who depend on Qualcomm for modem chip supply, competing modem chip 

manufacturers do not need modem chips from Qualcomm. Id. Thus, if Qualcomm licensed its 

SEPs to competing modem chip manufacturers, “the royalties that would emerge from 

[Qualcomm’s licensing] negotiations [with competing modem chip manufacturers] would reflect 

the royalties that a court would deem reasonable.” Id. According to FTC, “Qualcomm’s refusal to 

license competing manufacturers of [modem chips], in contravention of its FRAND commitments, 

contributes to [Qualcomm’s] ability to tax its competitors’ [modem chip] sales,” and thus maintain 

Qualcomm’s modem chip monopoly. Id. ¶ 115. 

iii. Qualcomm’s Exclusive Deals with Apple

In addition to Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” policy and Qualcomm’s refusal to license 

its SEPs to its competitors, FTC further alleges that Qualcomm has entered exclusive deals with 

Apple. Id. ¶ 116.

“Apple is a particularly important OEM from the perspective of a nascent [modem chip] 

supplier.” Id. ¶ 129. Specifically, “Apple sells large volumes of premium handsets that require 

premium LTE” modem chips which “command higher prices” than lower-tier modem chips. Id. 

Moreover, Apple provides additional benefits to chip suppliers because modem chip suppliers for 

Apple learn from Apple’s engineer teams, “can field-test its [modem chips] through global 

launches,” and “obtain[] a reputational halo effect from selling to Apple” which helps a modem 

chip manufacturer win sales with other OEMs. Id. 

FTC alleges that Apple has entered into de facto exclusive agreements with Qualcomm to 

use only Qualcomm’s modem chips in Apple’s flagship products. Id. ¶¶ 124–25. Specifically, 

although “Apple, like other OEMs, regards Qualcomm’s license terms . . . as inconsistent with 

Qualcomm’s FRAND commitments,” Id. ¶ 118, “Apple has negotiated with Qualcomm in an 

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effort to reduce the royalty burden.” Id. ¶ 119. Apple entered into agreements with Qualcomm in 

2007, 2011, and 2013.

In 2007, “Qualcomm agreed to rebate to Apple royalties that Qualcomm received” from 

Apple that were “in excess of a specified per-handset cap.” Id. ¶ 120. “Qualcomm’s payment 

obligations [to Apple] were conditioned upon, among other things, Apple not selling or licensing a 

handset implementing” a prospective fourth-generation standard that was opposed by Qualcomm 

but championed by Intel, its competitor. Id. 

In 2011, Qualcomm entered into an agreement with Apple through which “Qualcomm 

agreed to make substantial incentive payments [to Apple] from 2011 through 2016, explicitly 

conditioned upon Apple using Qualcomm [modem chips] exclusively in all new iPhone and iPad 

models.” Id. ¶ 122. “If, during this period, Apple launched a new handset with a non-Qualcomm 

[modem chip], [Apple] would forfeit all future payments and, depending on when a handset 

launched, could be required to refund past payments.” Id. 

In 2013, Qualcomm entered into an agreement with Apple that “modified and extended the 

exclusivity arrangement set forth in the companies’ 2011 agreement.” Id. ¶ 123. Specifically, 

under the 2013 agreement, “Qualcomm agreed to rebate to Apple royalties” that Qualcomm 

collected “in excess of a modified per-hand set cap.” Id. Qualcomm’s agreement to do this was 

subject to a new condition: “that Apple neither initiate nor induce others to initiate litigation 

claiming that Qualcomm had failed to offer a license on FRAND terms.” Id. Further, “Qualcomm 

also agreed to make substantial incentive payments in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016, explicitly 

conditioned on Apple sourcing [modem chips] for new iPad and iPhone models exclusively from 

Qualcomm.” Id. If, during this period, Apple launched a new handset with a non-Qualcomm 

modem chip, Apple would forfeit all future incentive payments and could be required to refund 

past incentive payments. Id. 

“In all, Qualcomm’s 2011 and 2013 agreements with Apple provided for billions of dollars 

in conditional rebates from Qualcomm to Apple for [modem chip] sales from 2011 to 2016,” 

which “effectively penalized Apple’s use of any [modem chip] supplied by Qualcomm’s 

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competitors.” Id. ¶ 124. 

According to FTC, “Qualcomm’s 2011 and 2013 agreements with Apple were, and were 

intended by Qualcomm to be, de facto exclusive deals that were as effective as express purchase 

requirements that effectively foreclosed Qualcomm’s competitors from gaining [modem chip] 

business at Apple.” Id. ¶ 125. Although Apple had “an interest in developing and working with 

additional suppliers of [modem chips],” the “large penalties that Apple would face” from 

Qualcomm if it chose to source chips from another supplier “prevented Apple from using 

alternative suppliers” during the effective exclusivity period under the agreements. Id.; see also

id. ¶ 125c (alleging penalties are sufficiently large that they effectively prevent other modem chip

manufacturers from competing with Qualcomm to gain business from Apple). 

As a result of Qualcomm’s exclusive dealing arrangements with Apple, Apple sourced 

modem chips exclusively from Qualcomm for all iPad and iPhone products that Apple launched 

from October 2011 until September 2016. Id. ¶ 126. “Qualcomm’s exclusive agreements with 

Apple prevented Qualcomm’s competitors from attaining” the benefits that come from supplying 

modem chips to Apple. “These [exclusive] agreements also foreclosed a substantial share of the 

market for premium LTE [modem chips]” and “significantly impeded the development of other 

[modem chip] suppliers into effective competitors to Qualcomm.” Id. ¶ 131.

B. Procedural History

FTC sued Qualcomm in this Court on January 17, 2017, and alleged that Qualcomm’s 

course of conduct violated § 5 of the FTCA. ECF No. 1. 

On April 3, 2017, Qualcomm moved to dismiss the Complaint. ECF No. 69 (“Mot.”). On 

May 12, 2017, FTC opposed Qualcomm’s motion. ECF No. 85 (“Opp.”).

Also on May 12, 2017, ACT|The App Association, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Intel 

Corporation, and the American Antitrust Institute, each filed motions for leave to file amicus 

curiae briefs in support of FTC’s opposition. See ECF Nos. 90–95. On May 15, 2017, the Court 

granted the motions for leave to file amicus curiae briefs. ECF No. 95.

On June 2, 2017, Qualcomm filed its reply. ECF No. 120 (“Reply”).

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ORDER DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS

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II. LEGAL STANDARD

A. Motion to Dismiss Under Rule 12(b)(6)

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), a defendant may move to dismiss an 

action for failure to allege “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell 

Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). “A claim has facial plausibility when the 

plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the 

defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged. The plausibility standard is not akin to a 

‘probability requirement,’ but it asks for more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted 

unlawfully.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (internal citation omitted).

For purposes of ruling on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the Court “accept[s] factual allegations 

in the complaint as true and construe[s] the pleadings in the light most favorable to the nonmoving 

party.” Manzarek v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 519 F.3d 1025, 1031 (9th Cir. 2008). 

However, a court need not accept as true allegations contradicted by judicially noticeable facts, 

Shwarz v. United States, 234 F.3d 428, 435 (9th Cir. 2000), and a “court may look beyond the 

plaintiff’s complaint to matters of public record” without converting the Rule 12(b)(6) motion into 

one for summary judgment, Shaw v. Hahn, 56 F.3d 1128, 1129 (9th Cir. 2011). Mere “conclusory 

allegations of law and unwarranted inferences are insufficient to defeat a motion to dismiss.” 

Adams v. Johnson, 355 F.3d 1179, 1183 (9th Cir. 2004).

B. Leave to Amend

If the Court concludes that a motion to dismiss should be granted, it must then decide 

whether to grant leave to amend. Under Rule 15(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, leave 

to amend “shall be freely given when justice so requires,” bearing in mind “the underlying purpose 

of Rule 15 . . . [is] to facilitate decision on the merits, rather than on the pleadings or 

technicalities.” Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1127 (9th Cir. 2000) (citation omitted). 

Nonetheless, a district court may deny leave to amend a complaint due to “undue delay, bad faith 

or dilatory motive on the part of the movant, repeated failure to cure deficiencies by amendments 

previously allowed, undue prejudice to the opposing party by virtue of allowance of the 

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ORDER DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS

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amendment, [and] futility of amendment.” See Leadsinger, Inc. v. BMG Music Publ’g, 512 F.3d 

522, 532 (9th Cir. 2008). 

III. DISCUSSION

The FTC brings its complaint against Qualcomm under § 5 of the FTCA, which prohibits 

“[u]nfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce.” 15 U.S.C. § 45(a). 

“[U]nfair methods of competition” under the FTCA includes “violations of the Sherman 

Act.” Fed. Trade Comm’n v. Cement Inst., 333 U.S. 683, 693–94 (1948). In addition, the FTC 

under § 5 may “bar incipient violations of [the Sherman Act], and conduct which, although not a 

violation of the letter of the antitrust laws, is close to a violation or is contrary to their spirit.” E.I. 

du Pont de Nemours & Co. v. Fed. Trade Comm’n, 729 F.2d 128, 136–37 (2d Cir. 1984) (internal 

citations omitted); see also Fed. Trade Comm’n v. Brown Shoe Co., 384 U.S. 316, 321 (“This 

broad power of the [FTC] is particularly well established with regard to trade practices which 

conflict with the basic policies of the Sherman and Clayton Acts even though such practices may 

not actually violate these laws.”). “The standard of ‘unfairness’ under the FTCA is, by necessity, 

an elusive one,” and the precise contours of the FTC’s authority under § 5 are not clearly defined. 

Fed. Trade Comm’n v. Indiana Fed. of Dentists, 476 U.S. 447, 454 (1986). However, the FTC’s 

authority to proscribe “unfair methods of competition” under § 5 is not unbounded. See E.I. du 

Pont de Nemours & Co., 729 F.2d at 137 (“When a business practice is challenged by the [FTC], 

even though, as here, it does not violate the antitrust or other laws and is not collusive, coercive, 

predatory or exclusionary in character, standards for determining whether it is ‘unfair’ within the 

meaning of § 5 must be formulated to discriminate between normally acceptable business behavior 

and conduct that is unreasonable or unacceptable.”). 

Here, FTC alleges that Qualcomm’s conduct violates § 5 of the FTCA because 

Qualcomm’s conduct violates both § 1 and § 2 of the Sherman Act. Compl. ¶ 147. FTC also 

alleges that, even if Qualcomm’s conduct does not violate either § 1 or § 2 of the Sherman Act, 

Qualcomm’s conduct nonetheless “constitute[s] unfair methods of competition in violation of [§ 

5] of the FTCA.” Id.

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ORDER DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS

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For the reasons discussed below, the Court agrees with FTC that FTC has adequately 

alleged that Qualcomm’s conduct violates § 1 and § 2 of the Sherman Act, and thus FTC has 

adequately stated a claim under § 5 of the FTCA. Accordingly, the Court need not decide whether 

FTC has stated a claim for violation of § 5 that is independent of a Sherman Act violation. The 

Court first discusses the elements of an antitrust claim under § 1 and § 2 of the Sherman Act. The 

Court then addresses Qualcomm’s alleged anticompetitive conduct.

A. Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act

“Section 2 of the Sherman Act makes it unlawful for a firm to ‘monopolize.’” United 

States v. Microsoft Corp., 253 F.3d 34, 50 (D.C. Cir. 2001). “The offense of monopolization has 

two elements: ‘(1) the possession of monopoly power in the relevant market”; and (2) “the willful 

acquisition or maintenance of that power” through exclusionary conduct “as distinguished from 

growth or development as a consequence of a superior product, business acumen, or historic 

accident.’” Id. (quoting United States v. Grinnell Corp., 384 U.S. 563, 570–71 (1966)); see also 

McWane v. Fed. Trade Comm’n, 783 F.3d 814, 828 (11th Cir. 2015) (applying these two elements 

in a case brought under § 5 of the FTCA). As the D.C. Circuit has explained, “to be condemned 

as exclusionary, a monopolist’s act must have an ‘anticompetitive effect,’” which means that the 

conduct “must harm the competitive process and thereby harm consumers.” Microsoft, 253 F.3d

at 58. “The [Sherman Act] directs itself not against conduct which is competitive, even severely 

so, but against conduct which unfairly tends to destroy competition itself.” Spectrum Sports, Inc. 

v. McQuillan, 506 U.S. 447, 458 (1993). 

“Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1, prohibits [e]very contract, combination . . . 

or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States.” Allied Orthopedic 

Appliances, Inc. v. Tyco Health Care Grp. LP, 592 F.3d 991, 996 (9th Cir. 2010). “Unlike Section 

2 claims, Section 1 restraint of trade claims need not establish the threshold showing of monopoly 

control over a relevant market.” Amarel v. Connell, 102 F.3d 1494, 1552 (9th Cir. 1996). “To 

show a violation of § 1, a plaintiff ‘must establish a contract, conspiracy or combination intended 

to restrain competition and which actually has an anticompetitive effect.” Id. at 1551.

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For purposes of the instant motion to dismiss, the § 1 and § 2 analysis are substantially 

identical.

2

 See Reply at 16 (“FTC acknowledges that the same theories underlie its claims under 

both Section 1 and Section 2 of the Sherman Act”); see also Compl. ¶ 147. Qualcomm does not 

contest that FTC has adequately alleged that Qualcomm has “monopoly power” in the markets for 

CDMA and premium-LTE modem chips. See generally Mot. Rather, Qualcomm primarily 

contests only whether, under either § 1 or § 2 of the Sherman Act, FTC has adequately alleged that 

Qualcomm’s conduct is anticompetitive, meaning that it “harm[s] the competitive process and 

thereby harm[s] consumers.” Microsoft, 253 F.3d at 58. 

FTC claims that Qualcomm has engaged in an anticompetitive course of conduct 

consisting of three primary anticompetitive practices. First, FTC alleges that Qualcomm has 

harmed competition through Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” policy with OEMs. Compl. ¶¶ 

61–106. Second, FTC contends that Qualcomm has harmed competition by refusing to license its 

FRAND-encumbered SEPs to its rival chip manufacturers. Id. ¶¶107–15. Third, FTC alleges that 

Qualcomm has harmed competition by entering into de facto exclusive dealing arrangements with 

Apple. Id. ¶¶ 116–30.3 The Court discusses each of these three practices in turn.

B. Qualcomm’s “No License-No Chips” Policy

First, FTC asserts that Qualcomm has a “no license-no chips” policy that harms 

competition in the CDMA and premium-LTE modem chips market (hereinafter, for simplicity, 

 

2 Qualcomm argues briefly in its motion to dismiss that FTC cannot state a § 1 claim because FTC 

does not allege a “contract, conspiracy, or combination.” Mot. at 21. In its opposition FTC states 

that the relevant agreements for purposes of its § 1 theories are Qualcomm’s exclusive dealing 

arrangements with Apple, licensing terms with OEMs, and agreements to pay strategic funds. 

Opp. at 23. Thus, FTC has adequately alleged a “contract, conspiracy, or combination” sufficient 

for its § 1 theories. Qualcomm does not contest this in its Reply. See Reply at 16. Because the 

parties appear to agree on this issue, the Court need not discuss this element further for purposes 

of the instant motion to dismiss.

3 Qualcomm analyzes FTC’s allegations of incentive payments as a separate anticompetitive 

practice. See Mot. at 13–14. However, given the structure of the Complaint, the Court 

understands FTC’s allegations of incentive payments to be only a component of Qualcomm’s “no 

license-no chips” policy, rather than an independent business practice that FTC alleges is 

anticompetitive apart from Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” scheme. Compare Compl. ¶¶ 102–

06 (discussing Qualcomm’s incentive payments under the same heading as Qualcomm’s “no 

license-no chips” policy), with id. ¶¶107–15; 116–20 (discussing Qualcomm’s refusal to license its 

competitors and exclusive deals with Apple under separate headings).

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ORDER DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS

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“modem chips market”). Opp. at 16. Understanding Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” policy, 

and why FTC alleges that this policy is anticompetitive, involves understanding several 

interrelated practices of Qualcomm. Accordingly, the Court first recounts FTC’s allegations 

regarding Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” policy. The Court then addresses Qualcomm’s 

arguments for why FTC has failed to allege that this policy is anticompetitive. 

1. No License, No Chips

As stated above, Qualcomm owns cellular communications patents that have been declared 

essential to certain cellular communications standards, including CDMA. Compl. ¶¶ 56–57. In 

exchange for having its patents declared essential to cellular communications standards, 

Qualcomm committed to SSOs that Qualcomm would license its SEPs on FRAND terms. Id. ¶ 

57. As FTC alleges, “[b]y making a FRAND commitment, [Qualcomm] accept[ed] the benefits of 

participating in standards development and of seeking incorporation of its patented technologies 

into a standard, but agree[d] in exchange not to exercise any market power resulting from its 

patents’ incorporation into that standard.” Id. ¶ 50. However, as discussed further below, FTC 

alleges that Qualcomm has violated its FRAND commitments. Id. ¶¶ 59, 76–77. Specifically,

FTC contends that Qualcomm has used its monopoly power in the modem chips market to distort 

SEP licensing negotiations, which has in turn harmed competition in the modem chips market and 

helped Qualcomm maintain its modem chips monopoly. See id. ¶¶ 37, 86–87. 

An important component of Qualcomm’s course of conduct, FTC alleges, is that 

Qualcomm “has consistently refused to license its cellular [SEPs] to its competitors” that compete 

with Qualcomm in the modem chips market to sell modem chips to OEMs, who manufacture 

handsets. Id. ¶ 3; see also id. ¶¶ 58–59, 108. Qualcomm refuses to license its competitors even 

though “Qualcomm’s FRAND commitments require [Qualcomm] to license its competitors.” Id.

¶ 108. “Because Qualcomm refuses to license [its] FRAND-encumbered SEPs to its competitors, 

these competitors cannot offer OEMs [modem chips] that convey the rights to Qualcomm’s 

cellular SEPs.” Id. ¶ 113. 

As discussed further in Section III.C. infra, FTC contends that Qualcomm’s refusal to 

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license its SEPs to its modem chips competitors is an independent Sherman Act violation because 

Qualcomm has an antitrust duty to deal with its modem chips competitors. See Opp. at 17–19. 

For purposes of the instant discussion, FTC contends that Qualcomm’s refusal to license its 

competitors is an important step in Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” policy. Specifically, 

because Qualcomm violates FRAND and refuses to license its SEPs to its modem chips

competitors, Qualcomm instead licenses its SEPs only to OEMs who make and sell handsets. Id. ¶ 

58. This difference in licensing is important because, unlike Qualcomm’s modem chips

competitors, OEMs depend on Qualcomm for modem chips supply. See id. ¶¶ 79–81 , 114. 

Indeed, even if an OEM currently buys modem chips from Qualcomm’s competitors, an OEM 

must necessarily buy at least some modem chips from Qualcomm because Qualcomm owns 

approximately 80% of the market for CDMA modem chips and approximately 80% of the market 

for premium-LTE modem chips. Id. ¶¶ 33, 44. Access to CDMA and premium-LTE modem 

chips is particularly important for OEMs, and thus access to Qualcomm modem chips is essential 

for OEMs to successfully make and sell handsets. Id. ¶¶ 33, 44. 

FTC alleges that Qualcomm takes advantage of OEMs’ need to obtain both modem chips

and SEP licenses from Qualcomm. Specifically, FTC alleges that Qualcomm refuses to sell an 

OEM any Qualcomm modem chips unless the OEM agrees to Qualcomm’s preferred SEP 

licensing terms. Id. ¶ 61. FTC calls this practice Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” policy. Id. 

FTC alleges that Qualcomm’s threat to withhold modem chips causes OEMs to accede to royalty 

rates that are above-FRAND and “disproportionately high relative to the value contributed by 

[Qualcomm’s] patented inventions.” Id. ¶ 77. For example, under Qualcomm’s licensing terms, 

Qualcomm collects a royalty that is a percentage of the handset’s total price. Id. If two handsets 

both have the same cellular connection features, but one handset costs $300 more because it has 

more memory storage, Qualcomm will collect a higher royalty on the more expensive handset

even though Qualcomm’s SEPs did not contribute to the handset’s higher price. In addition, 

“Qualcomm has required OEMs to grant Qualcomm cross-licenses,” often “with pass-through 

rights to other OEMs,” but Qualcomm “has failed to adjust its royalty rate to account for the value 

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of OEMs’ cross-licensed patents.” Id. FTC alleges that OEMs do not pursue litigation against 

Qualcomm over these royalty terms because the cost to OEMs of losing access to Qualcomm’s 

modem chips during the course of litigation is too high. Id. ¶¶ 78–81. 

In addition, FTC alleges that Qualcomm on occasion uses “both the ‘stick’ of threatened 

supply disruption and the ‘carrot’ of funds conditioned on the OEM’s acceptance of Qualcomm’s 

preferred terms.” Id. ¶ 102. In effect, Qualcomm pays OEMs to accept Qualcomm’s preferred 

licensing terms in order to “close the gap” in some licensing negotiations. Id. ¶¶ 102–06. These 

payments “have in some cases accrued based on OEMs’ purchase of Qualcomm’s [modem 

chips].” Id. ¶ 103. These payments help Qualcomm maintain its “no license-no chips” policy—

and the above-FRAND royalties that result—across all of Qualcomm’s licensing agreements with 

OEMs. Id. 

According to FTC, the above-FRAND royalties that Qualcomm extracts from OEMs 

through Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” policy affects the markets for modem chips and harms 

competition in the modem chips market. Understanding why this is so requires, again, viewing 

the entire course of Qualcomm’s conduct. As set forth above, Qualcomm violates FRAND and 

refuses to license its SEPs to competing modem chips manufacturers. Id. ¶ 108. As a result, 

Qualcomm’s “competitors cannot offer OEMs [modem chips] that convey the rights to 

Qualcomm’s cellular SEPs.” Id. ¶ 113. If Qualcomm did license its SEPs to competing modem 

chips manufacturers, those modem chips manufacturers could sell licensed modem chips to OEMs 

and, under the doctrine of patent exhaustion, the OEM would obtain the right to use the patents 

practiced by those modem chips without having to pay Qualcomm a royalty on the sale of those 

modem chips.

4

 See id. Instead, because Qualcomm refuses to license its modem chips

competitors and licenses its SEPs only to OEMs who make and sell handsets, Qualcomm collects 

a royalty on all handsets sold by an OEM, regardless of whose components are in the handset. Id. 

 

4

To the extent Qualcomm argues that OEMs would still need a license from Qualcomm for 

Qualcomm patents that are not exhausted by a competitors’ sale of modem chips, see Mot. at 17 

n.14, neither the Complaint nor the motion discusses such patents. 

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¶ 68. In addition, as set forth above, because OEMs are, unlike Qualcomm’s modem chips

competitors, vulnerable to Qualcomm’s threat to withhold modem chips, Qualcomm induces 

OEMs to pay above-FRAND royalties on every handset sold by the OEM. In sum, under 

Qualcomm’s licensing terms, Qualcomm collects an above-FRAND royalty on every handset that 

is sold by an OEM, even if that handset contains modem chips made by a Qualcomm competitor. 

See id. ¶¶ 61–68. 

This above-FRAND royalty that Qualcomm collects on every handset affects the market 

for modem chips because OEMs consider the “all-in” price for a modem chip as consisting of two 

components: “(i) the nominal price of the [modem chip]; and (ii) any patent royalties that the 

OEM must pay to use that [modem chip] in a handset.” Id. ¶ 88. By extracting above-FRAND 

royalty payments from OEMs on every handset sold by OEMs, FTC alleges that Qualcomm has in 

effect raised the second component of the “all-in” price for a modem chip—the patent royalties 

that must be paid to use the modem chip—for every modem chip that the OEM buys, even if that 

modem chip is made by Qualcomm’s competitor. Id. ¶¶ 88–95. 

More specifically, FTC alleges, Qualcomm has raised the second component of the “all-in” 

price of a modem chip by an “added increment” that does not reflect the value of Qualcomm’s 

FRAND-encumbered SEPs, but rather reflects Qualcomm’s modem chips monopoly. Id. As FTC 

alleges, the SEP royalty payments that OEMs pay Qualcomm under Qualcomm’s preferred royalty 

terms “include an added increment that OEMs pay Qualcomm to avoid disruption of [Qualcomm’s 

modem chips] supply.” Id. ¶ 86.

FTC labels this added above-FRAND increment a “tax” that Qualcomm collects from 

OEMs on every modem chip sale. Id. ¶ 87. However, an equally apt descriptor for this added 

above-FRAND increment is a “surcharge” that Qualcomm charges OEMs on every modem chip 

sale. Importantly, as discussed above, FTC alleges that this added surcharge does not reflect the 

value of Qualcomm’s SEPs. Id. ¶ 86. Rather, OEMs pay this surcharge to Qualcomm only “to 

avoid disruption of [Qualcomm’s modem chips] supply.” Id. In effect, FTC contends that 

Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” policy means that the “all-in” price of any modem chip now 

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consists of (i) the nominal price of the modem chip itself, which the OEM must pay the modem 

chips manufacturer; (ii) a FRAND royalty, which the OEM must pay to Qualcomm to practice 

Qualcomm’s SEPs; and (iii) an added surcharge, which the OEM must pay to Qualcomm in order 

to ensure continued access to Qualcomm’s modem chips supply. See id. ¶¶ 83, 86, 87.

According to FTC, the surcharge that Qualcomm imposes on the sales of its rivals’ modem 

chips is anticompetitive because it “reduces demand for competitors’ processors,” “reduce[s] 

competitors’ sales and margins, and diminishe[s] competitors’ ability and incentive of competitors 

to invest and innovate.” Id. ¶¶ 87, 138. FTC further alleges that, as a result of Qualcomm’s 

conduct, “[s]everal former competitors of Qualcomm have sold off or shuttered their [modem 

chips] business.” Id. ¶ 139. Moreover, FTC contends, Qualcomm’s conduct has “raise[d] handset 

prices paid by consumers.” Id. ¶ 87.

Qualcomm contends, however, that the Complaint does not plausibly allege that 

Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” policy is anticompetitive. First, Qualcomm argues, FTC has 

failed to state a claim because the Complaint does not actually allege that Qualcomm’s royalties 

are above FRAND. Mot. at 9–11. Second, and more fundamentally, Qualcomm contends that, 

even assuming Qualcomm charges an above-FRAND royalty, FTC has failed to adequately allege 

that Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” policy harms the competitive process for modem chips. 

Id. at 11–17. The Court addresses both of Qualcomm’s argument below.

2. FTC Has Adequately Alleged Above FRAND Royalties

First, Qualcomm contends that FTC has failed to state a claim because a fundamental 

component of FTC’s “no license-no chips” theory—that Qualcomm extracts from OEMs an 

above-FRAND royalty—is not adequately alleged in the Complaint. Mot. at 9. Specifically, 

Qualcomm contends that the Complaint “does not plead any facts purporting to show what 

Qualcomm’s royalties should be or by how much they are purportedly ‘elevated,’” and that the 

Complaint does not allege that “Qualcomm’s royalty rates are actually unreasonable or above a 

FRAND level.” Id. Moreover, Qualcomm asserts, FTC’s allegations of above-FRAND royalties 

are contradicted by FTC’s allegation that Qualcomm’s royalty rate has stayed the same at 5%. 

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Finally, Qualcomm contends that FTC’s allegations that Qualcomm offers some OEMs incentive 

payments to accept Qualcomm’s preferred licensing terms contradicts FTC’s allegations that 

Qualcomm uses the threat of withholding the supply of modem chips to induce OEMs to pay 

above-FRAND royalties. Id. at 10. 

For the reasons discussed below, taking the allegations in the Complaint as true and 

“draw[ing] all reasonable inferences in favor of” FTC—as the Court must on a motion to dismiss, 

Knevelbaard Dairies v. Kraft Foods, Inc., 232 F.3d 979, 984 (9th Cir. 2000) (internal quotation 

marks omitted)—the Court agrees with FTC that FTC has adequately alleged that Qualcomm’s 

royalties are above FRAND. 

a. The Complaint Adequately Alleges that Qualcomm’s Royalties are 

Above FRAND

Contrary to Qualcomm’s argument, the Complaint adequately pleads facts that “show what 

Qualcomm’s royalties should be,” and that Qualcomm’s current royalties are above FRAND. 

Mot. at 9. As FTC explains in its Complaint, Qualcomm voluntarily participated in certain 

standards setting processes and, in exchange for having its patents incorporated into cellular 

communications standards, committed to SSOs that it would license its SEPs on FRAND terms. 

See Compl. ¶¶ 48–53. FTC’s Complaint explains that “[m]ost SSOs neither prescribe FRAND 

license terms nor offer a centralized dispute-resolution mechanism,” but rather “rely on the 

outcome of bilateral negotiations between the parties, with resort to remedies available from courts

in the event of disagreement.” Id. ¶ 51. Thus, parties negotiating royalty rates bargain “in the 

shadow of the law,” and resort to remedies in court if those negotiations break down. Id. ¶¶ 70–

73. FTC alleges that “[b]ilateral negotiations conducted in the shadow of judicial determination of 

FRAND terms are therefore essential to the efficacy of the FRAND commitment.” Id. ¶ 51. 

Through bilateral negotiations conducted “in the shadow of the law,” or a lawsuit itself, a FRAND 

royalty rate is determined. See id. ¶¶ 51, 69–75.

However, FTC alleges that, because of Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” policy, these 

two processes for determining a reasonable royalty rate are functionally foreclosed to OEMs. 

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Id.¶¶ 69–75. Critically, FTC alleges that because Qualcomm threatens to cut off an OEM’s supply 

of chips if an OEM does not agree to Qualcomm’s licensing demands, OEMs are effectively 

denied the opportunity to challenge Qualcomm’s royalty terms in court. Id. ¶ 79. This is because 

“an OEM unable to purchase [modem chips] from Qualcomm” would, during the length of the 

litigation, be unable to sell “critically important premium-tier phones and phones for use on 

CDMA networks.” Id. ¶ 80. Thus, “[a]s a result of Qualcomm’s policy, the costs that an OEM 

must incur to challenge Qualcomm’s royalties are not simply attorney’s fees and other litigation 

costs, but also include loss of access to Qualcomm’s [modem chips].” Id. ¶ 79. 

Relatedly, because Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” policy prevents OEMs from 

resorting to a neutral arbiter to determine a reasonable royalty rate, an OEMs’ bilateral licensing 

negotiations with Qualcomm do not occur “in the shadow of the law,” and thus do not adequately 

reflect a reasonable FRAND royalty rate. Id. ¶¶ 70–73. Moreover, FTC alleges that although a 

reasonable royalty rate for Qualcomm’s SEPs could be determined from Qualcomm’s licensing 

negotiations with competing chip manufacturers, who “do not depend on Qualcomm for [modem 

chips] supply,” Qualcomm refuses to license competing modem chip manufacturers. Id. ¶ 114. In 

effect, FTC alleges, a non-distorted metric for determining a FRAND royalty rate—a rate 

determined either through bilateral negotiations “in the shadow of the law,” or a rate determined 

through litigation itself—currently does not exist because of Qualcomm’s conduct. See ¶¶ 73, 75 

78. 

Significantly, FTC alleges that if these metrics were available to OEMs, Qualcomm’s 

current royalty rates would not be the rates reached. Specifically, FTC alleges that “the royalties 

that OEMs pay Qualcomm . . . do not reflect OEMs’ assessments of patent royalties that a court or 

neutral arbiter would deem reasonable,” but rather “include an added increment that OEMs pay 

Qualcomm to avoid disruption of [modem chip] supply.” Id. ¶ 86. FTC alleges that, if given the 

opportunity, “OEMs could challenge Qualcomm’s royalty demands [before a court] on several 

grounds.” See id. ¶¶ 77, 86. For example, OEMs would argue that “Qualcomm’s royalties are 

disproportionately high relative to the value contributed by [Qualcomm’s] patented inventions,” 

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ORDER DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS

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In sum, taking the Complaint’s allegations as true and making reasonable inferences in 

FTC’s favor, the Complaint adequately alleges that Qualcomm’s royalty rates are above FRAND.

b. FTC’s Allegations of Incentive Funds do not Contradict FTC’s 

Allegations of Above-FRAND Royalties

Qualcomm also contends that FTC’s allegations that Qualcomm offers some OEMs the 

“carrot” of incentive funds renders implausible FTC’s allegations that Qualcomm uses the threat 

of withheld chip supply to coerce OEMs to accept above-FRAND royalties. Mot. at 10. 

According to Qualcomm, if FTC alleges that OEMs agree to above-FRAND royalties and do not 

challenge Qualcomm’s licensing terms only because the OEMs fear that Qualcomm will disrupt 

their chip supply, it cannot also be true that some OEMs “do push back against Qualcomm’s 

desired royalty terms,” which necessitates that Qualcomm pay these OEMs to accept elevated 

royalties. Id. at 10–11. 

Again however, Qualcomm’s argument requires drawing inferences in favor of Qualcomm, 

as opposed to FTC. FTC alleges that Qualcomm, on certain occasions, “use[s] both the ‘stick’ of 

threatened supply disruption and the ‘carrot’ of funds conditioned on the OEM’s acceptance of 

Qualcomm’s preferred terms.” Id. ¶ 102 (emphasis added). In effect, FTC alleges, if Qualcomm’s 

initial threat of withholding chips does not get OEMs to accept the full terms that Qualcomm 

desires on all occasions, Qualcomm “close[s] the gap” by offering the OEMs “strategic funds” that 

accrue “based on OEMs’ purchase of Qualcomm’s [chips].” Id. ¶ 103–04. Significantly, FTC 

alleges that these “strategic funds” are thus a way for Qualcomm to continue and maintain its “no 

license-no chips” policy consistently across all OEMs. Id. ¶ 104. As FTC contends, that 

Qualcomm has the power to offer “carrots” on some occasions does not contradict FTC’s central 

allegation, which is that Qualcomm primarily uses the “stick” of threatened modem chips supply 

disruption to induce OEMs to agree to Qualcomm’s above-FRAND licensing terms. See id. ¶ 105; 

see also ZF Meritor, LLC v. Eaton Corp., 696 F.3d 254, 282–83 (3d Cir. 2012) (finding 

anticompetitive conduct where a dominant supplier both threatened OEMs that it would back out 

of supply agreements if the OEMs did not meet market share targets, and offered the OEMs 

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ORDER DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS

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rebates for meeting the market share targets). Taking FTC’s allegations as true, Qualcomm’s 

incentive payments do not contradict the other allegations in the Complaint.

To summarize, the Complaint plausibly alleges that Qualcomm, through its “no license-no 

chips” policy, induces OEMs to pay Qualcomm above-FRAND royalties for Qualcomm’s SEPs. 

Accordingly, the Court next turns to Qualcomm’s argument that, even assuming Qualcomm 

charges an above-FRAND royalty, FTC has nonetheless failed to allege that Qualcomm’s conduct

has harmed the competitive process in the market for modem chips.

3. FTC Has Adequately Alleged that Qualcomm’s “No License-No Chip” 

Policy Harms the Competitive Process

Next, the Court addresses Qualcomm’s argument that, even assuming that Qualcomm 

collects an above-FRAND royalty, FTC has failed to state a claim under either § 1 or § 2 of the 

Sherman Act, and thus § 5 of the FTCA, because FTC has failed to adequately allege that 

Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” policy is anticompetitive. As discussed above, in order to state 

a Sherman Act claim, FTC must adequately allege that Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” policy 

has “harm[ed] the competitive process and thereby harm[ed] consumers.” Microsoft, 253 F.3d at 

58. As the Ninth Circuit has explained, “[a]nticompetitive conduct is behavior that tends to impair 

the opportunities of rivals and either does not further competition on the merits or does so in an 

unnecessarily restrictive way.” Cascade Health Solus. v. PeaceHealth, 515 F.3d 883, 894 (9th 

Cir. 2008) (citing Aspen Skiing Co. v. Aspen Highlands Skiing Corp., 472 U.S. 585, 605 n. 32 

(1985)). 

Qualcomm makes two primary arguments for why FTC has failed to allege that 

Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” policy is anticompetitive. First, Qualcomm contends that FTC 

has alleged only that Qualcomm has raised all modem chip prices equally across the board. 

According to Qualcomm, an across-the-board price increase cannot cause OEMs to favor 

Qualcomm’s modem chips over those of Qualcomm’s competitors. See Mot. at 11. Second, 

Qualcomm contends that FTC’s argument is, at most, a “price squeeze” theory that is foreclosed 

by the United States Supreme Court’s opinion in Pacific Bell Telephone Co. v. linkLine

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ORDER DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS

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Communications, Inc., 555 U.S. 438, 449 (2009). The Court addresses each of Qualcomm’s 

arguments below. 

a. FTC Has Adequately Alleged That Qualcomm’s “No License-No 

Chips” Policy Harms Competition

First, Qualcomm contends that FTC has failed to allege that Qualcomm’s “no license-no 

chips” policy is anticompetitive because FTC fails to explain how Qualcomm’s “no license-no 

chips” policy harms competition in the modem chips market. See Mot. at 11. Specifically, 

Qualcomm contends that, if the “all-in” price for a modem chip is (i) the price of the modem chip,

and (ii) any royalties that must be paid for any SEPs that are practiced through use of the modem 

chip, then FTC’s allegations show only that Qualcomm has raised the latter component in equal 

measure across all modem chips sales. Mot. at 11. Accordingly, Qualcomm contends, if 

Qualcomm has raised all modem chips prices equally, Qualcomm’s conduct cannot harm 

competition for modem chips sales. Id. 

However, Qualcomm’s argument requires accepting Qualcomm’s own labels for its 

conduct—labels that FTC alleges do not reflect reality—and it requires drawing inferences in 

Qualcomm’s favor, which the Court may not do on a motion to dismiss. See Knevelbaard Dairies, 

232 F.3d at 984. In addition, Qualcomm’s argument requires examining each of Qualcomm’s 

practices independently, as opposed to considering their interactions and combined effect. As the 

Ninth Circuit has stated, however, “it is not ‘proper to focus on specific individual acts of an 

accused monopolist while refusing to consider their overall combined effect.’” Free FreeHand 

Corp. v. Adobe Sys., Inc., 852 F. Supp. 2d 1171, 1180 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 10, 2012) (quoting City of 

Anaheim v. S. Cal. Edison Co., 955 F. 2d 1373, 1376, 1378 (9th Cir. 1992)). For the reasons 

discussed below, taking FTC’s allegations as true and considering the interactions between 

Qualcomm’s practices and their combined effect, the Court finds that FTC has adequately alleged 

that Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” policy has harmed competition in the modem chips market

in violation of the Sherman Act, and thus in violation of § 5 of the FTCA.

According to the Complaint, Qualcomm uses the threat of withheld modem chips supply to 

induce OEMs to enter into SEP licensing agreements with Qualcomm that require the OEMs to 

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pay above-FRAND royalties for Qualcomm’s FRAND-encumbered SEPs. See Compl. ¶¶ 83, 86. 

As FTC alleges, the royalty that OEMs pay to Qualcomm includes not only a FRAND royalty, but 

also an “added increment” that OEMs pay to Qualcomm “[t]o maintain access to Qualcomm’s 

[modem chips].” Id. ¶ 86. Significantly, although this surcharge—or, in FTC’s words, “tax”— is 

labeled as part of the royalty payment that OEMs pay to Qualcomm for Qualcomm’s SEPs, FTC 

alleges that this surcharge does not reflect the fair value of Qualcomm’s SEPs. Id. ¶¶ 4, 86. 

Rather, the surcharge is paid by OEMs “[t]o maintain access to Qualcomm’s [modem chips].” Id. 

¶ 86.

Of course, if Qualcomm merely added a surcharge to its own “all-in” modem chips price, 

competitors would underbid Qualcomm in the market for modem chips. See id. ¶ 88–90. 

Qualcomm’s modem chips surcharge works because Qualcomm also “rais[es] OEMs’ all-in costs 

of using competitors’” modem chips by the same amount. See id. Specifically, as set forth above, 

although Qualcomm’s voluntary FRAND commitments require Qualcomm to license its SEPs to 

competing modem chips manufacturers, Qualcomm refuses to license its modem chips

competitors. Id. ¶ 59. As a result, Qualcomm’s modem chips rivals cannot sell OEMs licensed 

modem chips that convey the rights to Qualcomm’s SEPs. Id. ¶ 114. Instead, Qualcomm licenses 

only OEMs who make and sell handsets, and these licensing agreements cover all of the handsets 

that the OEM sells, regardless of which company manufactured the components in that handset. 

Id. ¶¶ 64–68. In this way, Qualcomm collects its surcharge—the incremental above-FRAND 

royalty that OEMs pay to Qualcomm to ensure continued access to Qualcomm modem chips—on 

all handset sales. Id. 

Thus, by violating its FRAND obligations twice over—by not licensing its competitors and 

by threatening to withhold its chips to induce OEMs to pay an above-FRAND royalty rate—

Qualcomm raises the “all-in” modem chip price that OEMs pay on all modem chips. FTC alleges 

that this “weakens the competitive constraint on Qualcomm’s own all-in [modem chips] price,” 

which allows Qualcomm to charge OEMs its modem chips surcharge without spurring substitution

in the modem chips market. Id. ¶¶ 89–90. Accordingly, FTC alleges, Qualcomm gives itself a 

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competitive advantage in the market for modem chips—a competitive advantage that is unrelated 

to Qualcomm’s “superior product, business acumen, or historic accident.” Grinnell, 384 U.S. at 

571. 

Significantly, although Qualcomm nominally imposes the same surcharge on all modem 

chips sales, Qualcomm’s surcharge does not affect Qualcomm and its competitors equally. For 

Qualcomm, as discussed above, Qualcomm’s surcharge is a means for Qualcomm to functionally

extract a higher price for Qualcomm’s own modem chips without being underbid in the modem 

chips market by competing modem chips manufacturers. See Compl. ¶¶ 86, 85–95. The revenue 

from Qualcomm’s surcharge comes back to Qualcomm as a form of profit, and it maintains 

Qualcomm’s modem chips monopoly. Moreover, Qualcomm can offer OEMs incentive payments 

that provide OEMs discounts from Qualcomm’s above-FRAND royalties if an OEM uses 

Qualcomm’s modem chips as opposed to the modem chips of Qualcomm’s competitors. Id. ¶ 103. 

Qualcomm’s competitors, by contrast, cannot offer OEMs such incentive payments, and 

Qualcomm’s surcharge works to reduce competitors’ modem chips sales and margins, which 

prevents these competitors from effectively competing with Qualcomm. See id. ¶ 106. In effect, 

FTC alleges, Qualcomm’s surcharge “artificially stunt[s]” its competitors’ ability to effectively 

grow and challenge Qualcomm on the merits, in violation of the Sherman Act. McWane, 783 F.3d 

at 824, 839–40; see also United States v. Dentsply Intern., Inc., 399 F.3d 181, 191 (3d Cir. 2005) 

(finding monopolist’s actions anticompetitive where the monopolist’s conduct “help[ed] keep 

sales of competing [products] below the critical level necessary for any rival to pose a real threat 

to [the defendant’s] market share”).

The Seventh Circuit’s decision in Premier Electrical Construction Company v. National 

Electrical Contractors Association, 814 F.2d 358 (7th Cir. 1987), demonstrates how a monopolist 

can use an across-the-board price increase to impose artificial constraints that disproportionately 

harm the monopolist’s competitors. In Premier, an association of electrical employers known as 

the National Electrical Contractors Association (“the Association”) established a fund with an 

electrical workers’ union (“the Union”). Id. at 359. Members of the Association contributed 1% 

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of their gross payroll into the Fund to offset the cost of collective bargaining and administrative 

services. Id. at 359–60. However, because electrical employers who were not members of the 

Association were “free of the 1% contribution,” these electrical employers “had lower costs of 

doing business” and could charge lower prices. Id. at 368. Electrical employers who were not 

members of the Association thus began to underbid the Association’s members for electrical 

contracting work. Id. To prevent being underbid, the Association “enlisted the Union” to collect 

the 1% fee from non-Association electrical employers as well. Id. In this way, the Association 

“leveled” the playing field, but in doing so gave itself an advantage. “The result was higher prices 

to purchasers of electrical work and higher profits for members of the Association—both because 

there is more in the Fund, for the Association’s use, and because the reduction in competition 

enabled the members to capture more of the market.” Id. at 368.

Although the Association in Premier charged the 1% fee directly to its rivals—whereas 

Qualcomm’s surcharge raises the price an OEM must pay for Qualcomm’s rivals’ modem chips—

the result is substantially the same. Qualcomm functionally charges OEMs more to access 

Qualcomm’s own modem chips by threatening to withhold its modem chips supply from OEMs 

unless they agree to Qualcomm’s preferred SEP licensing terms. Compl. ¶ 86. Qualcomm 

ensures that it can charge this price while not being underbid by competitors—and thus maintain 

its modem chips monopoly—by also requiring OEMs to pay the same amount of money to 

Qualcomm even if those OEMs use modem chips from a competing modem chips manufacturer. 

Id. To Qualcomm, the surcharge represents “higher profits,” both because the surcharge brings 

additional revenue to Qualcomm, and “because the reduction in competition enable[s]” Qualcomm 

“to capture more of the [modem chips] market.” Premier, 814 F.2d at 368. To Qualcomm’s 

modem chips competitors, however, the surcharge represents an additional component of the “allin” price that an OEM must pay for use of the rivals’ modem chips. Compl. ¶ 87. Thus, 

Qualcomm’s surcharge represents an additional burden on the rival chipmaker that “diminishes 

OEMs’ demand for those” modem chips and reduces competitors’ sales. Id. ¶¶ 87, 89. It also 

“reduces the ability and incentive of competitors to invest and innovate.” Id. ¶ 87. 

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Taking these factual allegations as true, FTC has adequately alleged that Qualcomm has 

engaged in “behavior that tends to impair the opportunities of rivals and either does not further 

competition on the merits or does so in an unnecessarily restrictive way.” Cascade, 515 F.3d 883, 

894 (9th Cir. 2008); see Apple Inc. v. Samsung Elecs. Co., Ltd., 2011 WL 4948567, at *6 (N.D. 

Cal. Oct. 18, 2011) (finding plaintiff had plausibly alleged harm to competition where the plaintiff 

alleged that the defendant’s conduct “result[ed] in increased prices and decreased quality and 

innovation”). Although Qualcomm insists that its licensing practices are justified, see Mot. at 8, 

“the existence of valid business reasons in antitrust cases is generally a question of fact not 

appropriate for resolution at the motion to dismiss stage,” Tucker v. Apple Comp., Inc., 493 F. 

Supp. 2d 1090, 1001 (N.D. Cal. 2006). In sum, at this stage of the litigation, FTC has alleged 

facts sufficient to support a plausible theory of harm to competition. The Court thus turns to 

whether FTC’s claim is nonetheless foreclosed by the United States Supreme Court’s decision in 

linkLine, 555 U.S. 438.

b. linkLine Does Not Foreclose FTC’s Claim

Qualcomm contends that, even assuming that its “no license-no chips” policy affects 

Qualcomm’s modem chips rivals differently than it affects Qualcomm, FTC has nonetheless still 

failed to state a claim because FTC has alleged, at most, a “price squeeze” theory that is foreclosed 

by the United States Supreme Court’s decision in linkLine. However, as discussed further below, 

FTC’s theory is not foreclosed by linkLine because FTC has alleged that Qualcomm has an 

antitrust duty to deal with its competitors, and because Qualcomm’s conduct is distinguishable 

from the conduct at issue in linkLine. The Court first discusses the linkLine decision, and then 

addresses Qualcomm’s argument. 

In linkLine, AT&T “own[ed] much of the infrastructure and facilities needed to provide 

DSL [internet] service in California.” Id. at 442. Accordingly, competing DSL providers needed 

to gain access to AT&T’s facilities in order to provide DSL services to their own customers. Id. 

AT&T provided DSL transport service to its competitors at the wholesale level, and AT&T also 

provided DSL internet service directly to consumers at the retail level. Id. at 443. AT&T’s 

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competitors sued AT&T under the Sherman Act, and alleged a “price squeeze” theory. Id. at 443–

44. As the United States Supreme Court explained, a “price squeeze” theory “requires the 

defendant to be operating in two markets, a wholesale (“upstream”) market and a retail 

(“downstream”) market.” Id. at 449. “A firm with market power in the upstream market can 

squeeze its downstream competitors by raising the wholesale price of inputs while cutting its own 

retail prices.” Id. “This will raise competitors’ costs (because they will have to pay more for their 

inputs) and lower [competitors’] revenues (because they will have to match the dominant firm’s 

low retail price).” Id. The United States Supreme Court in linkLine considered “whether a 

plaintiff can state a price-squeeze claim when the defendant has no obligation under the antitrust 

laws to deal with the plaintiff at wholesale.” Id. The United States Supreme Court concluded that 

the plaintiff could not. Id. 

The United States Supreme Court held that AT&T did not have an antitrust duty to deal 

with its rivals at the wholesale DSL transport level. Id. at 450. Thus, AT&T had “no obligation to 

deal under terms and conditions favorable to its competitors” and “was not required to offer [its 

DSL transport service] at the wholesale prices the plaintiffs would have preferred.” Id. at 450–51. 

Moreover, the United States Supreme Court explained, AT&T’s DSL internet prices at the retail 

level were lawful because they were not predatory. Id. at 451. Because AT&T’s actions at the 

wholesale level were lawful, and because AT&T’s prices at the retail level were lawful, the United 

States Supreme Court explained that the combination of these two lawful actions did not violate 

the Sherman Act. Id. at 452. In sum, the United States Supreme Court held that it was not 

anticompetitive for AT&T to “squeeze” its competitors’ margins by charging a high price to its 

competitors for inputs while maintaining above-cost pricing for AT&T’s competitive retail 

product. Id. at 452. 

Qualcomm argues that the FTC’s allegations of Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” policy 

are, at bottom, a “price squeeze” theory. According to Qualcomm, FTC is functionally arguing 

that Qualcomm is charging “too much” for its royalties and “too little” for its modem chips, 

thereby “squeezing” its modem chip rivals’ margins. However, for several reasons, linkLine does 

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not apply to FTC’s claim. 

First, the United States Supreme Court’s holding in linkLine was explicitly premised on the 

fact that AT&T had “no duty to deal” with its competitors at wholesale. linkLine, 555 U.S. at 449. 

Here, as discussed in detail in Section III.C. infra, FTC has adequately alleged that Qualcomm 

does have an antitrust duty to license its SEPs to rival modem chips manufacturers. FTC alleges 

that if Qualcomm licensed its SEPs to competing chips manufacturers, Qualcomm would not be 

able to charge “too much” for its SEPs, either to OEMs or to its modem chips competitors, and 

thus Qualcomm’s entire course of anticompetitive conduct would collapse. Compl. ¶ 113–15. 

Accordingly, Qualcomm’s antitrust duty to deal with competing chips manufacturers, discussed in 

full in Section III.C below, distinguishes FTC’s claim from linkLine, and linkLine does not apply. 

See Safeway Inc. v. Abbott Labs., 2010 WL 147988, at *4 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 12, 2010) 

(distinguishing linkLine and allowing case to go forward because the plaintiff adequately alleged 

that the defendant had an antitrust duty to deal with its competitors).

Second, the United States Supreme Court in linkLine held that AT&T’s lawful prices at the 

wholesale level and AT&T’s lawful prices at the retail level did not become unlawful merely 

because the two prices, which were separate and distinct from one another, worked to “squeeze” 

the margins of AT&T’s competitors when considered in relation to one another. Id. at 452. As 

courts have recognized, linkLine did not address allegations of an “overarching anticompetitive 

scheme.” Universal Hosp. Servs., Inc. v. Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc., 2015 WL 6994438, at *6 (W.D. 

Tex. Oct. 15, 2015) (distinguishing linkLine and holding that linkLine does not require courts to 

consider the components of an alleged anticompetitive scheme “in the disjunctive”). Here, 

Qualcomm’s SEP licensing prices and Qualcomm’s modem chips prices are not separate and 

distinct from one another, as AT&T’s wholesale prices and retail prices were in linkLine. Rather, 

FTC alleges that Qualcomm’s SEP licensing practices and Qualcomm’s modem chips practices 

are inextricably intertwined with one another, and that both of these practices are central 

components of Qualcomm’s overall anticompetitive “no license-no chips” policy. See Compl. ¶¶ 

86–106. linkLine did not address this type of inextricably intertwined conduct and overarching 

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anticompetitive policy, and thus linkLine does not foreclose FTC’s “no license-no chips” claim. 

4. Summary

In sum, the Court finds that FTC has adequately alleged that Qualcomm’s “no license-no 

chips” policy results in OEMs paying Qualcomm an above-FRAND royalty for Qualcomm’s 

SEPs, and that Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” policy harms the competition in the market for 

modem chips. Accordingly, FTC has plausibly alleged that Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” 

policy is anticompetitive conduct in violation of either § 1 or § 2 of the Sherman Act, and thus in 

violation of § 5 of the FTCA. The Court next turns to consider whether Qualcomm’s refusal to 

license its rivals constitutes independent anticompetitive conduct that violates the antitrust laws.

C. Qualcomm’s Refusal to License its Competitors

Next, FTC alleges that Qualcomm’s refusal to license its SEPs to its competing modem 

chips manufacturers violates an antitrust duty to deal because Qualcomm’s FRAND obligations 

and larger anticompetitive course of conduct create an antitrust duty to deal with Qualcomm’s

competitors. Compl. ¶ 107; Opp. at 17–19. Qualcomm argues, however, that it has no antitrust 

duty to assist its rivals, even assuming that its FRAND obligations require Qualcomm to license 

its SEPs to its rivals. Mot. at 15. 

For the reasons discussed below, the Court agrees with FTC that, under the circumstances 

presented here, FTC has adequately alleged that Qualcomm’s refusal to license its SEPs to 

competing modem chips manufacturers and Qualcomm’s larger course of anticompetitive conduct 

constitute a violation of an antitrust duty to deal, and thus a violation of § 2 of the Sherman Act 

and, by extension, § 5 of the FTCA. The Court first discusses the antitrust duty to deal doctrine, 

and then the Court addresses FTC’s allegations.

a. Antitrust Duty to Deal

The United States Supreme Court has explained that, in general, “there is no duty to aid 

competitors.” Verizon Comm’s, Inc. v. Law Offices of Curtis V. Trinko, 540 U.S. 398, 411 (2004). 

Nonetheless, “[u]nder certain circumstances, a refusal to cooperate with rivals can constitute 

anticompetitive conduct and violate § 2.” Id. 

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One such circumstance is the circumstance recognized in Aspen Skiing Co. v. Aspen 

Highlands Skiing Corp., 472 U.S. 585 (1985). In Aspen Skiing, the defendant owned three of the 

four ski resorts in Aspen, Colorado, and the plaintiff owned the fourth resort. Id. at 585. The 

defendant and the plaintiff had, for many years, offered skiers a joint “all-Aspen ticket” that gave 

skiers admission to all four resorts. Id. at 589–90. Revenues from the joint ticket were divided 

according to the relative percentage of skiers that visited each mountain with the joint ticket. Id. at 

589. Believing that it could get greater revenues without the joint ski pass, the defendant offered 

the plaintiff “an offer that [the plaintiff] could not accept.” Id. at 592. Essentially, the defendant 

would only agree to continue the joint ticket if the plaintiff agreed to a fixed percentage of revenue 

that was below the revenue that the plaintiff had historically received under the joint ticket. Id. 

Significantly, after the plaintiff refused the defendant’s offer and the joint ticket was discontinued,

the defendant also refused to sell the plaintiff any lift tickets to the defendant’s ski resorts, even 

though the plaintiff offered to pay the defendant retail price for the tickets. Id. at 593. 

The United States Supreme Court found that the defendant in Aspen Skiing violated an 

antitrust duty to deal with its competitor. The United States Supreme Court explained the general 

rule that, “[i]n the absence of any purpose to create or maintain a monopoly, the [Sherman] [A]ct 

does not restrict the long recognized right of a” business to “exercise [its] own independent 

discretion as to the parties with whom [it] will deal.” Id. at 602. However, in Aspen Skiing, the 

United States Supreme Court found that there was sufficient evidence to show that the defendant 

had refused to deal with the plaintiff only because of the defendant’s anticompetitive intent to 

maintain its monopoly. Specifically, as the United States Supreme Court later explained in 

Trinko, the Aspen Skiing Court “found significance in the defendant’s decision to cease 

participation in a cooperative venture.” Trinko, 540 U.S. at 409. The Aspen Skiing defendant’s 

“unilateral termination of a voluntary (and thus presumably profitable) course of dealing 

suggested a willingness to forsake short-term profits to achieve an anticompetitive end.” Id. 

Moreover, “the defendant’s unwillingness to renew the [joint] ticket even if compensated at retail 

price revealed a distinctly anticompetitive bent.” Id. In those circumstances, the defendant’s 

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refusal to deal with the plaintiff was a violation of the Sherman Act.

By contrast, the United States Supreme Court in Trinko held that Verizon did not have an 

antitrust duty to deal with its competitors. There, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 imposed 

on Verizon an obligation to share its telephone network with its rivals. Id. at 402. However, 

Verizon did not process its rivals’ requests “in a timely manner, or not at all.” Id. at 404–05. 

Verizon’s rivals sued Verizon and alleged that Verizon’s refusal to deal was part of an 

anticompetitive scheme to harm its rivals and maintain Verizon’s monopoly. Id. However, the 

United States Supreme Court in Trinko held that the plaintiffs had failed to show that Verizon’s 

conduct fell within Aspen Skiing’s exception to the general no-duty-to-deal rule. Id. at 408–09. 

Specifically, the Trinko Court stated that the plaintiff’s complaint “d[id] not allege that Verizon 

voluntarily engaged in a course of dealing with its rivals,” or that Verizon would have ever have 

dealt with its rivals absent the Telecommunications Act’s requirements. Id. at 409. Moreover, the 

Trinko Court found further significance in the fact that, unlike the lift tickets at issue in Aspen 

Skiing, the services that Verizon was refusing to offer its competitors in Trinko were services that 

were “not otherwise marketed or available to the public.” Id. at 410. In sum, the Trinko Court 

“conclude[d] that Verizon’s alleged insufficient assistance to the provision of service to rivals is 

not a recognized antitrust claim under this Court’s existing refusal-to-deal precedents.” Id. 

In MetroNet Services Corp. v. Qwest Corp., 383 F.3d 1124, 1131 (9th Cir. 2004), the Ninth 

Circuit analyzed Trinko and Aspen Skiing and concluded that the United States Supreme Court 

considered three facts “significant for creating antitrust liability” in Aspen Skiing that were not 

present in Trinko. First, the Aspen Skiing defendant’s “unilateral termination of a voluntary and 

profitable course of dealing.” Id. at 1132. Second, the Aspen Skiing defendant’s refusal to deal 

even if compensated at retail price, which suggested that the defendant’s conduct was 

anticompetitive. Id. at 1132. Third, the fact that the Aspen Skiing defendant refused to provide its 

competitor a product that was “already sold in a retail market to other customers.” Id. at 1113. 

The Ninth Circuit explained that this third fact related to the United States Supreme Court’s 

“concern about the administrability of a judicial remedy. Id. Because the product at issue was 

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sold at retail, the court could “simply order the defendant to deal with its competitors on the same 

terms that it already deals with others in the existing retail market.” Id. at 1133. By contrast, in 

Trinko, Verizon’s services were not available to the public, and thus if a duty to deal was 

recognized, the court would have to act as a “central planner” and establish the terms of dealing. 

Id. 

Thus, the Supreme Court’s decisions in Aspen Skiing and Trinko, together with the Ninth 

Circuit’s decision in MetroNet, instruct that a plaintiff alleges an antitrust duty to deal where the 

plaintiff alleges “[a] decision to alter a [voluntary] course of dealing together with evidence of 

anticompetitive malice,” and where the recognition of an antitrust duty to deal will not present 

significant judicial administrability concerns. SmithKline Beecham Corp. v. Abbott Labs., 2014 

WL 6664226, at *4 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 24, 2014); Safeway Inc. v. Abbott Labs., 2010 WL 147988, at 

*6 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 12, 2010) (“Taken together, Aspen Skiing and [Trinko] demonstrate that 

liability under § 2 can arise when a defendant voluntarily alters a course of dealing and

‘anticompetitive malice’ motivates the defendant’s conduct.”). Accordingly, the Court thus turns 

to consider whether FTC has adequately alleged that Qualcomm has a duty to deal within the 

meaning of Aspen Skiing, Trinko, and MetroNet.

b. FTC has Adequately Alleged that Qualcomm had an Antitrust Duty to 

License its FRAND-Encumbered SEPs to its Competitors

FTC contends that Qualcomm’s refusal to license its competitors is a violation of an 

antitrust duty to deal because Qualcomm voluntarily agreed to license its SEPs in accordance with 

FRAND, and Qualcomm’s later refusal to license its competitors is an alteration of that voluntary 

course of dealing. Opp. at 17–19. According to FTC, Qualcomm’s decision to not license its 

competitors is motivated by anticompetitive malice because Qualcomm’s refusal to license its 

SEPs to competing chips manufacturers is a necessary step in Qualcomm’s “no license-no chips” 

policy, which allows Qualcomm to maintain its modem chips monopoly, as discussed above. See 

id.; Compl. ¶¶ 107–15. Based on the below analysis of the Ninth Circuit’s three MetroNet facts,

the Court agrees with FTC that, accepting FTC’s allegations as true, FTC has adequately alleged 

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that Qualcomm has a duty to license its SEPs to its modem chips competitors.

i. Voluntary and Profitable Course of Dealing

First, the Court considers whether FTC has alleged that Qualcomm altered a “voluntary 

and profitable course of dealing.” MetroNet Servs. Corp., 383 F.3d at 1132. Significantly, FTC 

alleges that Qualcomm voluntarily “participated in cellular standard setting processes” through 

cellular SSOs such as ETSI, TIA, and ATIS. Compl. ¶ 54. These SSOs “require each party that 

participates in the standards-development process to commit to license its SEPs . . . on FRAND 

terms.” Id. ¶ 50. According to FTC, “Qualcomm’s FRAND commitments require [Qualcomm] 

to license its competitors to make and sell [modem chips] using Qualcomm’s SEPs.” Id. ¶ 108. 

Moreover, FTC alleges, Qualcomm recognizes that its FRAND commitments require it to license 

its modem chips rivals. Id. ¶ 109. FTC alleges that, despite voluntarily participating in the 

standard setting process, and despite voluntarily “commit[ing] to ETSI, TIA, ATIS, and other 

SSOs that it will license its cellular SEPs covering 2G, 3G, and 4G technologies on FRAND 

terms”—including to its modem chips competitors—Qualcomm has violated its FRAND 

commitments by refusing to license its modem chips competitors. Id. ¶¶ 57–58, 108. Indeed, FTC 

alleges, Qualcomm’s rivals “have sought SEP licenses from Qualcomm,” but Qualcomm has 

refused. Id. ¶ 112. Thus, FTC has alleged that Qualcomm engaged in a voluntary course of 

dealing with its rivals by participating in the standard setting process and committing to SSOs that 

it would license its SEPs to its modem chips competitors, but that Qualcomm altered this 

voluntary course of dealing by refusing to license its modem chips rivals once its patents were 

incorporated into cellular communications standards. See id. ¶¶ 107–12. 

In addition to alleging that Qualcomm altered a voluntary course of dealing with its rivals,

FTC also alleges that Qualcomm’s voluntary FRAND commitments were “profitable” for 

Qualcomm. See MetroNet Servs. Corp., 383 F.3d at 1132. Indeed, as FTC alleges, FRAND 

commitments are intended to ensure that the patent holder receives fair compensation for its 

intellectual property, while also ensuring that the patent holder does not “exercise any market 

power resulting from its patents’ incorporation into that standard.” Compl. ¶ 50. FTC alleges 

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that Qualcomm could “obtain fair compensation for its intellectual property” by complying with 

its FRAND obligations. Id. ¶ 112. 

Nonetheless, Qualcomm argues that its conduct is distinguishable from Aspen Skiing 

because FTC does not allege that Qualcomm ever actually licensed its rivals in the past. Reply at 

11. However, Qualcomm’s voluntary participation in the standards setting process, and 

Qualcomm’s voluntary commitment to license its SEPs on FRAND terms pursuant to the 

standards setting process, are the type of voluntary actions that can support an antitrust duty to 

deal. Significantly, the Third Circuit recognized this in Broadcom v. Qualcomm, Inc., 501 F.3d 

297, 304 (3d Cir. 2007). There, Broadcom “alleged that Qualcomm ignored its FRAND 

commitments to [SSOs] by demanding discriminatorily higher (i.e., non-FRAND) royalties from 

competitors and customers using chipsets not manufactured by Qualcomm.” Id. According to

Broadcom, Qualcomm’s conduct was part of Qualcomm’s effort to obtain a monopoly in the 

UMTS chip market. Id. 

The Third Circuit in Broadcom stated that, assuming that Broadcom had alleged a refusalto-deal claim in its Complaint, the Third Circuit would have found that Broadcom adequately 

stated a refusal-to-deal claim. Id. at 316. Specifically, the Third Circuit explained that 

Broadcom’s Complaint alleged that Qualcomm had “actively marketed its [patents] for inclusion 

in an industry-wide standard,” and that Qualcomm had “voluntarily agreed to license that 

technology on FRAND terms.” Id. at 316. According to the Third Circuit, Qualcomm’s voluntary 

participation in the standard setting process, and Qualcomm’s voluntary commitment to FRAND, 

constituted a voluntary course of conduct that distinguished Qualcomm’s conduct from Verizon’s 

conduct Trinko, where the complaint “did not allege that [Verizon] engaged in a voluntary course 

of dealing with its rivals, or would have done so absent statutory compulsion.” Id. 

Here, FTC alleges, just as the Complaint alleged in Broadcom, that Qualcomm actively 

marketed its patents for inclusion into cellular communications standards, and that Qualcomm 

“voluntarily agreed to license” its SEPs on FRAND terms. Id. at 316; see Compl. ¶¶107–15. 

Accordingly, as the Third Circuit found, FTC’s allegations that Qualcomm voluntarily participated 

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in the standards setting process and voluntarily committed to license its SEPs to its modem chips

competitors are sufficient to allege that Qualcomm altered a voluntary and profitable course of 

dealing. Id.; see Compl. ¶¶ 107–15. Thus, the first MetroNet fact supports finding an antitrust 

duty to deal.

ii. Anticompetitive Malice

Second, FTC has alleged sufficient facts to show that Qualcomm’s refusal to deal with its 

rivals, in violation of its FRAND commitment, was motivated by “anticompetitive malice.” 

SmithKline Beecham Corp., 2014 WL 6664226, at *4. As set forth above, FTC alleges that, like 

the defendant in Aspen Skiing, Qualcomm has not licensed its SEPs to its modem chips rivals, 

even though Qualcomm “could obtain fair compensation for its intellectual property” by licensing 

its SEPs in accordance with FRAND. Compl. ¶¶ 50, 143. FTC alleges that Qualcomm refuses to 

license its rivals, and instead licenses only OEMs, because this practice, in part, enables 

Qualcomm to enact its “no license-no chips” policy and harm its competitors’ sales. Id. ¶ 114 

(“Qualcomm’s ability to tax its competitors’ sales via patent license terms with OEMs would be 

limited if [Qualcomm] licensed cellular SEPs to its competitors.”). “Qualcomm’s competitors, 

unlike [Qualcomm’s] OEM customers, do not depend on Qualcomm for [modem chips] supply.” 

Id. “As a result, Qualcomm could not use a threatened disruption of [modem chips] supply to 

skew SEP-licensing negotiations with its competitors, and the royalties that would emerge from 

those negotiations would reflect the royalties that a court would deem reasonable.” Id. 

Moreover, if Qualcomm licensed its SEPs to its competitors, those competitors could 

“offer OEMs [modem chips] that convey the rights to Qualcomm’s cellular SEPs,” and Qualcomm 

could not be able to collect a royalty on handsets that contain its competitors’ components. Id. ¶ 

113; see also id. ¶¶ 64–68. Indeed, FTC alleges that Qualcomm recognizes that by licensing its 

SEPs only to OEMs, and not its modem chips competitors, Qualcomm is able to use its modem 

chips monopoly to “pursue licensing on a non-FRAND basis for SEPs.” Id. ¶ 96–100. As 

discussed in detail above, Qualcomm’s ability to collect above-FRAND royalties not only on the 

sales of its own modem chips, but also on the sale of its competitors’ modem chips, allows 

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Qualcomm to impose a surcharge on its competitors’ modem chips sales which “reduces demand 

for competitors’ [modem chips], and reduces the ability and incentive of competitors to invest and 

innovate.” Id. ¶87. 

In sum, FTC alleges, Qualcomm’s refusal to license its SEPs to its modem chips

competitors is an essential component in Qualcomm’s larger “no license-no chips” anticompetitive 

policy. Id. ¶ 114–15. FTC’s allegations are sufficient, at this stage of the proceedings, to allege 

that Qualcomm’s refusal to deal is motivated by “anticompetitive malice.” SmithKline Beecham 

Corp., 2014 WL 6664226, at *4. Thus, the second MetroNet fact supports finding an antitrust 

duty to deal.

iii. Judicial Administrability and Other Factors

Third, the “concern[s] about the administrability of a judicial remedy” that were present in 

Trinko are not present here. MetroNet, 383 F.3d at 1133 (citing Trinko, 549 U.S. at 409). As the 

Ninth Circuit in MetroNet explained, the Trinko Court found it significant that Aspen Skiing 

involved the defendant’s refusal to provide a competitor “products that were already sold in a 

retail market to other customers.” Id. In Trinko, by contrast, Verizon’s “services allegedly 

withheld [were] not otherwise marketed or available to the public.” Trinko, 540 U.S. at 410. 

Accordingly, the United States Supreme Court in Trinko was concerned that imposing on Verizon

an antitrust duty to deal would require “antitrust courts to act as central planners, identifying the 

proper price, quantity, and other terms of dealing-a role for which they are ill suited.” Id. at 408. 

Here, by contrast, the relevant “terms of dealing” for Qualcomm are Qualcomm’s FRAND 

commitments. Id.; see Compl. ¶ 108. FTC’s Complaint contains numerous allegations regarding 

how FRAND rates are determined, and that courts play an important role in determining 

reasonable FRAND royalty rates. Compl. ¶¶ 69–83 (describing lawsuits wherein the court 

determined a FRAND royalty rate). Accordingly, recognizing a duty to deal in this case would 

not require courts to play a larger role in setting the terms of dealing than the role that courts 

already play in determining appropriate royalties in patent cases. Id. Thus, the third MetroNet 

fact supports finding an antitrust duty to deal.

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Finally, the Court notes that an additional concern expressed by the United States Supreme 

Court in Trinko is not present here. The United States Supreme Court in Trinko recognized that 

Verizon’s conduct was already subject to an “extensive regulatory framework that created 

oversight function and remedies that the antitrust laws were unsuited to augment.” Broadcom, 

501 F.3d at 316–17 (citing Trinko, 540 U.S. at 410–15). By contrast, as the Third Circuit 

recognized in Broadcom, “[n]o such regulatory framework exists” with regards to FRAND 

commitments and SSOs, which are private organizations. Id. Thus, for this additional reason, 

FTC has adequately alleged that Qualcomm has a duty to license its SEPs to its modem chips

competitors, and that Qualcomm’s refusal to license its SEPs to its modem chips competitors is 

anticompetitive.

c. Summary

In sum, applying the three MetroNet facts and considering the Supreme Court’s decisions 

in Aspen Skiing and Trinko, the Court finds that FTC has adequately alleged that, under the 

circumstances presented here, Qualcomm violated a duty to deal in refusing to license its FRANDencumbered SEPs to its modem chips competitors. Thus, FTC has adequately alleged that 

Qualcomm’s refusal to license its SEPs to its modem chips competitors is independent

anticompetitive conduct that violates § 2 of the Sherman Act, and thus violates § 5 of the FTCA. 

The Court considers whether Qualcomm’s exclusive dealing arrangements with Apple constitute 

independent anticompetitive conduct in violation of the antitrust laws.

D. Qualcomm’s Exclusive Dealing Arrangements with Apple

Finally, FTC alleges that Qualcomm’s exclusive dealing arrangements with Apple 

foreclosed competition in the market for premium LTE chips.7 “Exclusive dealing is a theory 

under both § 1 and § 2 of the Sherman Act.” Feitelson v. Google Inc., 80 F. Supp. 3d 1019, 1029–

30 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 20, 2015). An exclusive dealing arrangement “is an ‘agreement between a 

vendor and a buyer that prevents the buyer from purchasing a given good from any other vendor,’ 

 

7

The Complaint does not allege, and FTC does not argue, that these deals have foreclosed

competition in the market for CDMA chips. See Compl.¶ 130. 

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and forecloses competition.” Aerotec Int’l v. Honeywell Int’l, Inc., 836 F.3d 1171, 1180 (9th Cir. 

2016) (quoting Allied Orthopedic Appliances Inc., 592 F.3d at 996 & n.1). “In certain limited 

situations, discounts and rebates conditioned on a promise of exclusivity or on purchase of a 

specified quantity or market share of the seller’s goods or services may be understood as ‘de facto’ 

exclusive dealing contracts because they coerce buyers into purchasing a substantial amount of 

their needs from the seller.” Id. at 1182; see also Pro Search Plus, LLC v. VFM Leonardo, Inc., 

2013 WL 6229141, at *5 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 2, 2013) (“[D]e facto exclusive dealing claims are 

cognizable under the antitrust laws.” (quoting ZF Meritor, 695 F.3d at 270)). 

“[W]hether bringing claims under § 1 or § 2, a plaintiff [] must plead facts that support a 

plausible inference that the exclusive dealing arrangement forecloses a substantial share of the 

relevant market.” Eastman v. Quest Diagnostics Inc., 2015 WL 7566805, at *11 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 

25, 2015). However, some courts have recognized that the “definition of ‘substantial share’ 

varies” under § 1 and § 2. Id. Exclusive dealing “violates §1 only if its effect is to ‘foreclose 

competition in a substantial share of the line of commerce effected,’” which has typically “been 

quantified as foreclosure of 40% to 50% of the relevant market.” Feitelson, 80 F. Supp. 3d at 

1030. By contrast, “a monopolist’s use of exclusive contracts, in certain circumstances, may give 

rise to a § 2 violation even though the contracts foreclose less than the roughly 40% or 50% share 

usually required in order to establish a § 1 violation.” Microsoft, 253 F.3d at 70. 

Qualcomm asserts that FTC has failed to allege that its exclusive dealing arrangements 

with Apple violate the Sherman Act because FTC has failed to allege that Qualcomm’s exclusive 

dealing arrangements with Apple have foreclosed a substantial share of the market for premium 

LTE modem chips, either under § 2 or § 1. Mot. at 18–21. Specifically, Qualcomm argues that 

(1) FTC fails to allege a specific percentage of the market that was foreclosed; (2) FTC fails to 

“identify any competitor that was purportedly excluded from the alleged market”; (3) FTC 

“acknowledges that Intel began supplying premium LTE modem chips to Apple” while the 

agreements were in effect, which refutes FTC’s allegations that sales to Apple were foreclosed. 

See id. However, for the reasons discussed below, the Court agrees with FTC that the Complaint 

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alleges sufficient facts to withstand a motion to dismiss.

First, Qualcomm argues that FTC has failed to allege substantial foreclosure because FTC 

has failed to allege a specific percentage of the market that is foreclosed, and because FTC fails to 

allege what percentage of the OEM market Apple occupied. Mot. at 19. However, courts have 

recognized that, at the motion to dismiss stage, a plaintiff is not necessarily required to allege a 

specific percentage of foreclosure. See E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. v. Kolon Indus., Inc., 637 

F.3d 435, 452 n. 12 (4th Cir. 2011) (“While Kolon did not allege a specific percentage of market 

foreclosure in its Counterclaim, it would be problematic to reject its Counterclaim, with its 

extensive factual allegations, solely on the basis at the pre-discovery, motion-to-dismiss stage.”). 

Here, although FTC has not alleged a specific percentage of the market, FTC has alleged sufficient 

facts that plausibly suggest that Qualcomm’s exclusive dealing arrangements with Apple 

“significantly limited” “the opportunities for other [chip manufacturers] to enter into or remain in 

[the] market” for premium LTE chips, as required to state an exclusive dealing claim. Microsoft, 

253 F.3d at 69 (internal quotation marks omitted). Specifically, FTC alleges that Apple 

manufactures and sells “large volumes” of premium-tier handsets, including the iPhone, and that 

Apple is a “particularly important” OEM for modem chips suppliers. See Compl. ¶ 129. FTC 

further explains that Apple also provides modem chips manufacturers with significant learning 

opportunities and reputational benefits. See id. (describing the reputational “halo effect” of 

working with Apple).

Moreover, FTC alleges that “Qualcomm recognized that any competitor that won business 

at Apple would become stronger and better positioned to win future designs at Apple and other 

OEMs,” and that Qualcomm intended its agreements with Apple to prevent its competitors from

working with Apple and achieving these benefits. Id. ¶ 127. Indeed, the Complaint states that 

Qualcomm’s exclusive dealing arrangements with Apple did, in fact, “significantly impede[] the 

development of other [modem chip] suppliers into effective competitors to Qualcomm,” and that 

Qualcomm’s agreements with Apple “foreclosed a substantial share of the market for premium 

LTE” modem chips. Id. ¶ 130. These allegations are sufficient, at the motion to dismiss stage, to 

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allege substantial foreclosure in the market for premium LTE modem chips and thus are sufficient 

to state a claim under either § 1 or § 2 of the Sherman Act. See Blue Sky Color of Imagination, 

LLC v. MeadWestvaco Corp., 2010 WL 4366849, at *4 (C.D. Cal. Sept. 23, 2010) (finding 

allegations sufficient where the complaint alleged that “Mead entered into an exclusive dealing 

contract with the intent and effect of excluding all rivals from certain office superstores”); see also 

ProSearch Plus, LLC, 2013 WL 6229141, at *7 (finding it “premature,” on a motion to dismiss, 

“to determine whether the agreements do in fact leave open alternative channels of distribution” 

such that they foreclosed a substantial share of the market). 

Second, Qualcomm argues that FTC has failed to state a claim because FTC “does not 

identify any competitor that was purportedly excluded from the alleged market.” Mot. at 20. 

However, the Complaint alleges that “Apple had at all relevant times an interest in developing and 

working with additional suppliers of [chips],” but that Qualcomm’s agreements “prevented Apple 

from using alternative [chips] suppliers during the effective exclusivity period under these 

agreements.” Id. ¶ 125. These allegations are sufficient to plausibly allege that competitors were 

excluded from the alleged market by Qualcomm’s agreements with Apple. Although FTC has not 

identified by name any specific competitor that was excluded by Qualcomm’s agreements with 

Apple, the case law does not suggest that this degree of specificity is required at the motion to 

dismiss stage. Indeed, courts have denied motions to dismiss exclusive dealing claims even where 

the complaint did not allege all of the parties to the exclusive deal, so long as the complaint 

“explain[ed] how [the defendant’s] alleged scheme operate[d]” and provided facts beyond “mere 

legal conclusions.” See, e.g., Tele Atlas N.V. v. Navteq Corp., 397 F. Supp. 2d 1184, 1190 (N.D. 

Cal. Nov. 2, 2005) (collecting cases). FTC’s complaint provides sufficient factual allegations, 

beyond “mere legal conclusions,” to plausibly allege that Qualcomm’s dealing arrangements with 

Apple excluded competitors. Id.; see Compl. ¶¶ 124–30.

Third, Qualcomm argues that the Complaint alleges that Intel did begin to supply Apple 

with chips, and that this negates the Complaint’s allegations that Qualcomm’s agreements with 

Apple foreclosed all competitor sales to Apple. Mot. at 20. However, the Complaint alleges that 

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Case No. 17-CV-00220-LHK 

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS

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Qualcomm’s agreements with Apple resulted in de facto exclusion “from October 2011 until 

September 2016.” Compl. ¶ 126. The Complaint alleges only that Intel “began to supply a 

portion of Apple’s baseband processor requirements for the iPhone 7,”8see Compl. ¶ 45, which 

Qualcomm acknowledges occurred in October 2016. See Mot. at 20–21. Thus, for purposes of 

the instant motion to dismiss, Intel’s supply of chips to Apple does not negate FTC’s allegations 

that Qualcomm’s arrangements with Apple foreclosed competition from October 2011 until 

September 2016.

In sum, FTC has adequately alleged that Qualcomm entered into de facto exclusive dealing 

arrangements with Apple from October 2011 until September 2016, and that these de facto 

exclusive dealing arrangements foreclosed a substantial share of the market for premium LTE 

modem chips. Accordingly, FTC has adequately alleged that Qualcomm’s exclusive dealing 

arrangements with Apple violated the Sherman Act, and thus violated § 5 of the FTCA. 

IV. CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, Qualcomm’s motion to dismiss is DENIED.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: June 26, 2017

______________________________________

LUCY H. KOH

United States District Judge

 

8 As Intel explains in its amicus brief, Qualcomm ignores “why Intel finally was able to supply 

Apple after all of these years.” ECF No. 92-1 (“Intel Br.”), at 21. According to Intel, the most 

plausible explanation is that Qualcomm was deterred from its exclusive dealing practices because 

Qualcomm has faced or is facing investigations, and in some instances fines, from the Korea Fair 

Trade Commission, Japan Fair Trade Commission, China’s National Development and Reform 

Commission, and the European Commission, in addition to the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission. 

See Intel Br. at 5, 21. 

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