A Seoul court upholds FTC’s decision to impose fine on Qualcomm

A South Korean court upheld the country’s antitrust watchdog’s decision to fine Qualcomm a record-high fine of 1.03 trillion won.

The Seoul High Court on Wednesday ruled in favor of the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) in a lawsuit filed by Qualcomm Inc., calling for the nullification of the agency’s decision and the suspension of the corrective orders. The court said in a ruling that the FTC’s decision was legitimate.

In December 2016, the FTC fined Qualcomm 1.03 trillion won for using its dominant position in the market with its standard essential patents (SEP), while giving corrective orders. The court has upheld Wednesday the antitrust regulator’s decision in a lawsuit filed by the U.S. chip giant.

The FTC alleged that Qualcomm, which has its own communications chipset technology, refused to license patents to its competitors, thereby abusing its dominant position in the market.

Moreover, the court judged that the chip giant forced cell phone manufacturers to pay royalties on unnecessary patents.


Jun-Il Kim jikim@donga.com