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BrandonSmith02/19/20251 replyview on HN

I'm sure Apple still pays patent licensing fees to Qualcomm even if Apple is now manufacturing their own modem.


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GeekyBear02/19/2025

In the past, Qualcomm was infamous for high licensing fees.

However, part of the process of creating an open industry standard like 4G/5G is getting a legally binding commitment from the patent holders to license standards essential patents to all takers on "reasonable" terms.

> If the patent holder refuses upon request to license a patent that has become essential to a standard, then the standard-setting organization must exclude that technology.

https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reasonable_and_non-discrimina...

So Qualcomm is still entitled to some money, but not nearly as much as they made back when there was no legal restriction on what they could demand.

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