U.S. Supreme Court won't Hear Apple's Bid to Revive Qualcomm Patent Challenges

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear Apple Inc's AAPL.O bid to revive an effort to cancel two Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O smartphone patents despite the global settlement of the underlying dispute between the two tech giants.

The justices turned away Apple's appeal of a lower court's ruling that the Cupertino, California-based company lacked standing to pursue the matter because of the settlement. Apple had argued that it should be allowed to appeal because San Diego-based Qualcomm could sue again after the settlement ends.

Qualcomm sued Apple in San Diego federal court in 2017, arguing that its iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches infringed a variety of Qualcomm mobile-technology patents. That case was one element of a broader dispute between the rivals.

Apple challenged the validity of the two patents at issue at the Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

The parties settled their litigation in 2019, signing an agreement worth billions of dollars that allowed Apple to continue using Qualcomm chips in iPhones. The settlement also featured a license to tens of thousands of Qualcomm patents, including the two at issue, but allowed the patent board case to continue.