Apple asked to pay $31 million to Qualcomm over patent infringement

A jury in San Diego declared that Apple will pay Qualcomm $31 million over patent infringement. The jury announced that Apple is guilty of violating three Qualcomm patents, reports CNET.

The lawsuit was filed back in 2017 and is just one of the many legal battles Qualcomm has against the Cupertino-based firm. Both Apple and Qualcomm are heading towards one of the biggest trials, starting next month.

The three patents in the lawsuit are related to Apple's flagship iPhone. It involves the tech that the iPhone uses to quickly connect to the internet once the device is turned on, the technology that amplifies battery life of the device, and the tech that segregates the traffic between the CPU and modem, allowing swift downloads.

Apple was found guilty of using these patents for its iPhones without proper consent from the chipmaker. Apple, in its defense, said that the first patent in the list was co-developed by one of its employees, however, the jury didn't agree.

The amount ($31 million) might not cause any inconvenience to Apple, which was once evaluated at $1 trillion, but it will surely boost Qualcomm's hope for the upcoming trial which could potentially rake in billions of dollars for the company.

The trial will focus on patent royalties where Qualcomm will argue that Apple hasn't paid the royalties, while Apple will argue that the chipmaker overreaches when there are patents involved.