Chip dispute: Imagination Technologies calls Apple unethical

London July 5 (IANS) Britain-based chip design firm Imagination Technologies has accused Apple of breaching its own ethics as the dispute between the two companies turned bitter.

In an earning report Imagination s CEO Andrew Heath said Apple s claims that the iPhone maker would no longer need to pay royalties were unsubstantiated and labelled Apple s actions unacceptable The Telegraph reported late on Tuesday.

We do not believe this to be acceptable business practice nor in line with Apple s own ethics statements regarding suppliers Heath was quoted as saying.

Apple used Imagination s technology and intellectual property for years until this April when the tech giant said it would take the graphics technology in-house and no longer rely on Imagination s patents.

Imagination thinks it would be extremely challenging to design a brand new GPU architecture from basics without infringing on its intellectual property rights -- accordingly Imagination does not accept Apple s assertions.

Imagination official said there had been no progress on the dispute with Apple and that it is reviewing its options suggesting legal action is a possibility.

--IANS
tony/na/bg