The rhetoric might not be legalese, but the drama from the legal system in the continuing litigation between chipmaker Qualcomm and iPhone maker Apple has been elevated to another level.

In federal court on Friday, lawyer Evan Chesler said that Apple, through its client manufacturers, have billions of dollars in royalties due.

They’re trying to destroy our business. They’re now $7 billion dollars behind in royalties. The house is on fire and there is $7 billion of property damage right now.

Bloomberg reports that the two companies are engaged with each other in about 100 court actions globally. Apple is of the stance that Qualcomm is charging all OEMs excessive rates for intellectual property it claims are standard and essential to the industry. Qualcomm believes that its patents are crucial to making Apple and its kind very profitable in mobile phones.

It’s the old question of “what’s it worth” that will continue to get played out for the coming months.

Qualcomm, which believes it can salvage a relationship with Apple beyond the current conflicts, has tried for an injunction on iPhones with Intel modems in the United States and has not succeeded. Apple was the first US-based private party and second only to the FTC to sue Qualcomm over its complex royalties scheme and its tactics to discourage its clients from sourcing parts from competitors.