Apple Inc. narrowed the potential damages Qualcomm Inc. can seek over alleged patent infringement before the two square off at a trial scheduled to start next month in San Diego.

A federal judge on Tuesday granted Apple’s request to preclude Qualcomm from seeking financial compensation for the infringement before the lawsuit was filed in 2017. The judge also ruled that Apple isn’t
infringing one of the several patents that Qualcomm says are at stake in the litigation.

Qualcomm accused Apple of infringing patents related to technology for graphics processing and energy efficiency in mobile phones. They are distinct from the so-called standard essential patents for wireless communications that are at issue in Apple’s separate antitrust allegations against the chipmaker. The case is one of a number of patent disputes in the sprawling global fight between the two technology giants that has given each side isolated wins but so far no knockout victory.

The patents overlap ones that were in the first of two cases filed by Qualcomm in the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington. In that case, a judge found that Apple
infringed one of Qualcomm’s patents, but recommended that no import ban be imposed. The commission is scheduled to release its findings on March 26.

Representatives of the companies didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the ruling.

The case is Qualcomm Inc. v. Apple Inc., 17-CV-1375, U.S. District Court, Southern District of California (San Diego).

— With assistance by Susan Decker, and Ian King