Less than three months after being sued by Apple for $1 billion, chipmaker Qualcomm is countersuing the iPhone maker in a dispute over licensing fees for mobile technology.



Qualcomm said on Monday that it filed its answers and counterclaims to the suit, seeking unspecified damages and to "enjoin Apple from further interference with Qualcomm's agreements with the companies that manufacture iPhones and iPads for Apple."

The legal battle is the centerpiece of a high-stakes dispute between the world's most valuable company and the leading maker of processors in mobile phones. Qualcomm makes money from the chips themselves as well as from royalties when any device is sold that's based on its cellular standards. One-third of Qualcomm's revenue comes from licensing.

Apple claimed in January that Qualcomm has been charging royalties for "technologies they have nothing to do with."

Qualcomm said in its press release that the countersuit outlines how Apple breached and mischaracterized agreements and negotiations, interfered with agreements with device manufacturers, encouraged regulatory attacks against Qualcomm around the world, opted "not to utilize the full performance of Qualcomm's modem chips in its iPhone7," and threatened Qualcomm to keep it from speaking publicly about the better performance of iPhones with Qualcomm chips.