Republic of Korea: Issued Supreme Court ruling on Qualcomm’s abuse of market dominance

On 13 April 2023, the Korean Supreme Court issued a ruling confirming the Korean Fair Trade Commission's (KFTC) record fine of KWN 1.03 trillion imposed in 2016 on Qualcomm, a US-based chipset and semiconductor producer, for unfair business practices. The KFTC had found that Qualcomm violated several Korean antitrust laws by abusing its market dominance. More specifically, Qualcomm forced manufacturers to pay excessive royalties for more patents than they actually needed. Furthermore, Qualcomm also limited rival chipmakers from accessing essential patents.