The legal battle between Apple and Qualcomm is expected to gain momentum next month, when the trial begins in San Diego. A new filing reveals that the trial will include testimony by both Apple CEO Tim Cook, as well as Qualcomm CEO Steven Mollenkopf.
Bloomberg was first to report on the joint witness list filing. According to the documents, Cook will testify on Apple’s business strategy and financial performance, as well as the agreements Apple has in place with other technology companies.
The filing also lists other potential witnesses from Apple’s executive team. Those include Bob Mansfield, Jeff Williams, Phil Schiller, and Bruce Sewell, Apple’s former general counsel.
Two years ago, Tim Cook said that he would prefer to settle Apple’s legal battle with Qualcomm, but indicated at the time that he was anticipating a lengthy legal battle instead. As it turns out, Cook was correct in that anticipation. Earlier this year, Qualcomm slammed Cook’s response to a question about settling, saying the statement was deliberately “misleading” and tarnished its “reputation.”
The battle between Qualcomm and Apple has been ongoing for quite a while now. Just yesterday, an ITC judge found that Apple infringed on one Qualcomm patent, while it rejected a different case of infringement. Earlier this month, a jury found Apple guilty of patent infringement.
The antitrust trial is set to begin on April 15th. The focus will be on Apple’s accusation that Qualcomm used a monopolistic position to ‘double-dip’ when collecting royalties from Apple.
