Apple Loses Bid to Challenge Qualcomm Patents After Settlement

Apple’s settlement of a patent dispute with Qualcomm precludes it from pursuing efforts to invalidate patents in the case, a U.S. appeals court ruled.

• Apple had petitioned the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to have certain patents canceled, but the board ruled in Qualcomm’s favor
• Apple appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • Normally, a challenger who loses at the patent office can appeal to the Federal Circuit, but that right is limited if there’s no related litigation -- citizens groups, hedge funds and even competitors have been rebuffed by the Federal Circuit
• Apple tried ...