Apple Gets Relief on Costly Discovery Fine in Qualcomm Case

Apple Inc. is off the hook on potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of discovery sanctions in the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust case against Qualcomm Inc.

Apple isn’t a party to that dispute, which is pending before Judge Lucy H. Koh in the U.S. District Court for the District of Northern California. Qualcomm demanded that Apple produce documents in the lawsuit as a third party. The FTC claims in the suit that Qualcomm’s licensing practices are anticompetitive, and Apple is a major customer. The situation is particularly complicated because Apple and Qualcomm are also suing each other in a ...