We've asked Apple for comment, and it pointed us to both a statement from June and Tim Cook's remarks on an earning call. The company decried Qualcomm's "illegal business practices" where it was demanding royalties on the total price of Apple's devices, while Cook specifically argued that Qualcomm hadn't made a fair, non-discriminatory licensing offer. In short: Apple isn't backing down at this stage.

It's not surprising that the ITC would move forward, as it usually does. It'd be a surprise if this was tossed outright. However, this still ramps up the pressure on Apple to either settle or hope that its own legal action pans out. Companies embroiled in patent disputes often file an ITC complaint alongside a lawsuit knowing that the Commission tends to move far quicker than the court system -- the average investigation takes less than a year and a half. That doesn't give Apple much time to consider its next move, although it at least has the Federal Trade Commission (not to mention Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft) on its side.