Behold: The Left’s assault on free market capitalism known as “shareholder activism.”
Where Leftists purchase an infinitesimal percentage of a company’s stock. Then attempt to ruin the company – by passing anti-business policies in under-attended shareholder meetings.
Behold: A judge confronted with this practice. Who just green-lit an absurd shareholder activist assault on Intellectual Property (IP).
Qualcomm Must Face Shareholder Class Action Over Sales Practices:
“A federal judge has ruled that shareholders suing chip maker Qualcomm Inc for allegedly hiding anticompetitive sales and licensing practices may bring their claims as a class action.
“The lawsuit filed in San Diego, California, alleges Qualcomm and its executives repeatedly described its businesses of selling chips and licensing its technology to other companies as separate, when in fact the company bundled them in a bid to stifle competition….”
“U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta on Monday rejected Qualcomm’s argument that the sales practices were already publicly known.”
This is a fairly ridiculous rejection by the judge.
This judge says Qualcomm’s Leftist shareholders are legally protected from being so stupid as to not know Qualcomm’s business practices – even after purchasing their shares. Caveat emptor, Leftists.
Or the judge is ratifying their lying to her.
Shocker: She’s a Joe Biden appointee.
The judge ignored the fact that a couple of very recent legal cases – that looked at this exact Qualcomm business practice – have roiled the IP and legal worlds for about a decade.
What to Know About Apple’s Legal Battle With Qualcomm:
“Beginning in 2011, Apple sold iPhones with Qualcomm chips inside that powered the device’s connection to cellular networks. For years, Qualcomm was the exclusive chip provider for Apple. But then things got messy.
“In addition to actually paying for Qualcomm’s chips, Apple has to pay a licensing fee for the intellectual property that enables smartphones to connect to the internet through the baseband processor. Because Qualcomm is the exclusive holder of the patents, Apple is alleging anti-competitive practices.”
Yes, Apple: Qualcomm holds patents on IP – which makes your iPhones and other devices more interesting than a retro-rotary phone. You want – what they’ve got.
Per the Constitution – and attending legislation – that means you pay them licensing fees:
“Behold the Constitution’s Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8:
“‘The Congress shall have Power To…promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries….’
“That means patents, trademarks and copyrights.”
Except: Despite having signed numerous contracts to pay for the chips – and the patent licenses? Apple stopped paying – and started suing.
Except: Apple had to eventually acknowledge the exceedingly obvious: The Constitution – and their contracts – say they owe Qualcomm money.
Apple Finally Admits They’ve Been Stealing Billions of Dollars from Qualcomm for Years
Apple Paid Up to $6 Billion to Settle with Qualcomm
Except: Apple – despite having admitted the exceedingly obvious – simply refuses to give up the ghost. And this time even the Judicial Big Nine repeatedly agreed with Qualcomm.
Apple Loses Second Bid to Challenge Qualcomm Patents at U.S. Supreme Court:
“The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday again declined to hear Apple Inc’s bid to revive an effort to cancel three Qualcomm Inc smartphone patents despite the settlement of the underlying dispute between the two tech giants.”
The takeaway from these VERY high-profile cases being:
Anyone even remotely involved in the IP and legal worlds – was eminently aware of Qualcomm’s business model.
The federal judge ruling Qualcomm’s Leftist agitator shareholders – weren’t aware of Qualcomm’s business model?
Is simply ridiculous.