Shanghai-based semiconductor company Genitop Research Co (集通數碼科技) yesterday said it would seek a US$100 billion penalty against Qualcomm Inc for trademark infringement — almost as much as the US mobile chip titan’s entire market capitalization.
The claims from Genitop come after Beijing fined the US firm nearly US$1 billion for monopoly offenses.
Genitop, which develops Chinese-character information processing software and semiconductor chips, sued Qualcomm last year, alleging it had infringed its China-registered trademarks by using the Chinese phrase “gaotong” (高通) in its Chinese company name and product brand.
Genitop said that it registered the phrase, which means “high communication,” as its trademark in 1992 and demanded 100 million yuan (US$16 million) in compensation.
The case has yet to be decided, but Genitop yesterday said it would ask the Chinese government to probe what it called Qualcomm’s trademark infringements in the nation.
Genitop would seek an administrative penalty of US$100 billion, Genitop’s lawyer Chen Ruojian said, adding that under Chinese regulations, such penalties can be set at three times a firm’s sales, and Genitop arrived at the figure by combining three years of Qualcomm’s turnover in China.
“We will file a formal, written and open application with the Chinese State Administration for Industry and Commerce for investigations and a penalty against Qualcomm,” Chen told reporters at a news conference.
Qualcomm representatives in China could not immediately be reached for comment, and an e-mail to the firm’s US headquarters was not immediately answered.
The case is the latest headwind to beset the Californian giant in China.
Qualcomm said last month that it would pay 6.09 billion yuan and modify its business practices in China to end an official antitrust investigation.
That punitive levy was equivalent to 8 percent of Qualcomm’s 2013 sale revenue in the world’s No. 2 economy, Chinese authorities said.
Beijing has said the probe — which formally started in November 2013 — was triggered after unnamed industry players complained the firm was abusing its market dominance to charge high prices.
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