(Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Thursday objected to a move by mobile chip supplier Qualcomm Inc to introduce internal Apple Inc documents in its fight to stop the enforcement of a May antitrust ruling.
On Tuesday, Qualcomm submitted them to U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in opposition to a sweeping ruling that would alter its business model as it pursues an appeal. In the slides from internal Apple presentations, the iPhone maker outlined goals to “Create Leverage by Building Pressure” and “Hurt Qualcomm Financially.”
The slides were part of the opening statement presentation in Qualcomm’s separate civil trial against Apple in April but were never submitted during Qualcomm’s earlier trial with the FTC. If Koh accepts them, they would become part of the record that higher courts review when Qualcomm eventually files an appeal.
FTC officials on Thursday said the submission of the slides was “improper, unfair, and prejudicial.”
The slides were part of Qualcomm’s opening arguments from the Apple trial, in which the company outlined what its attorneys described as a targeted campaign by Apple to attack Qualcomm’s patent licensing model. In them, Apple discussed how to “devalue” the kind of patents held by Qualcomm and “Reduce Apple’s Net Royalty to Qualcomm.”
The FTC said it had no formal chance to object to the slides.
“Had the document survived a high-priority objection, an Apple witness may have testified to, among other things, the document’s context and purpose and the meaning of the cited language,” the FTC wrote Thursday.
Qualcomm, which supplies
