Ford, Daimler, Intel and MediaTek were among a group of 21 which pleaded for the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to contest a successful legal appeal by Qualcomm overturning a patent licensing decision.

In a letter, the group of companies and industry associations urged the FTC to push for a rehearing of the case which went the way of Qualcomm earlier this month.

The decision overturned a judgement from 2019 which would have forced the chip giant to renegotiate old patent deals with customers. It was the latest in a series of long-running rows between industry players and authorities over global patent licensing practices.

Backers of continued action argued if the latest decision was allowed to stand and set a precedent, it would “endanger domestic competitiveness” and weaken the FTC’s hand in similar competition action.

They added the appeals court had conducted a “faulty application of competition law”, adding Qualcomm’s licensing practices “reinforced its product monopoly, excluded rivals, and harmed the competitive process”.

The letter was signed by a number of large companies in the automotive sector including Honda and Tesla, along with a range of other parties including the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, Center for Democracy and Technology, Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), and technology giant HP.