Qualcomm wants antitrust case dismissed

Qualcomm is asking a federal judge to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission during the last days of the Obama administration.

The FTC case, filed on January 17, alleged that the processing chip manufacturer was imposing an “anticompetitive tax” on phone companies by making them pay higher rates for purchasing components from competitors.

On Monday night, Qualcomm filed a motion in federal court in California to dismiss the case.

{mosads}“Qualcomm has moved to dismiss the FTC complaint, filed just days before the change in administrations, pointing out that the complaint fails to plead a plausible antitrust claim and offers no facts or economic theories supporting a claim of competitive harm,” said Don Rosenberg, Qualcomm’s executive vice president and general counsel.

Maureen Ohlhausen, the Republican acting chairman of the FTC, was a minority commissioner at the time the lawsuit was filed and dissented against the case.

Qualcomm cited the arguments she made in her dissent against filing the case, pointing to them as evidence that the suit is on shaky legal ground.

“As current acting FTC Chair Maureen Ohlhausen stated in her January dissent, the FTC complaint was based on a ‘flawed legal theory’ and ‘lacks economic and evidentiary support,’” Rosenberg said. “Having failed to meet even the most minimal pleading standards, the complaint should be dismissed.”