Qualcomm President Derek Aberle has decided to step down from the US-based semiconductor maker.

Derek Aberle was in the process of fighting a patent battle against iPhone maker Apple in several courts.

Derek Aberle served Qualcomm in the past 17 years. Derek Aberle assisted Qualcomm in driving the chipset company’s global strategy and vision as a member of Qualcomm’s Executive Committee. His departure will be effective as of December 31, 2017.

Under the leadership of Derek Aberle, the Qualcomm Technology division has significantly grown in both revenues and profits, established its 4G licensing program and enabled significant competition across the industry.

Qualcomm announced that executive vice president and QTL president Alex Rogers, who has run QTL since March 2016, and is a member of Qualcomm’s Executive Committee, will report directly to Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf.

Alex Rogers joined Qualcomm in 2001 and held various leadership positions at the company. During his tenure leading QTL, Alex Rogers has helped conclude key licensing agreements in China, been involved in numerous IP and regulatory matters and launched new teams within QTL focused on technology, product strategy, compliance and relationship management.

To find a solution to the protracted legal battle between Apple and Qualcomm, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) was set to start a probe into the chip-maker’s claims that Apple violated its patents in devices like the iPhone 7.

Qualcomm has asked the ITC to stop further sales of iPhones equipped with cellular baseband modem processors made by rival chip-producer Intel.

The mobile-phone chip-maker claimed that Apple violated potentially six of its patents in how it uses the Intel modems.

Apple began using Intel cellular modems for some versions of the iPhone 7 launched last year, with the remaining supplied by Qualcomm.

Apple continues to reassert claims it made in its lawsuit against Qualcomm, saying “the chipmaker supplies Apple with a single connectivity component, but for years has been demanding a percentage of the total cost of our products — effectively taxing Apple’s innovation”.

Image source: CNBC