US leading chipmaker Qualcomm Incorporated on Tuesday asked a US federal judge to put on hold an anti-trust decision against it while the company is appealing the ruling.

In a filing with a federal court in San Jose, California, Qualcomm demanded US District Judge Lucy Koh not enforce her ruling on May 21 in favor of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), saying the decision raised "serious legal questions" in the anti-trust case brought by the commission in January 2017.

Koh ruled that San Diego-based Qualcomm violated the FTC Act and ordered the chipmaker not to condition the supply of modem chips on a customer's patent license status.

She also asked Qualcomm to report to the FTC on an annual basis its compliance with the court's decision for a period of seven years.

However, Qualcomm argued that Koh failed to take into consideration the event after March 2018 when Apple decided to drop Qualcomm modems in favor of Intel Corporation, proving that it had not squeezed out its rivals in the smartphone chips market.

It challenged the FTC's argument that Qualcomm's patent licensing practice was in essence imposing a "tax" on smart phone makers, saying the theory in the lawsuit is "unprecedented" in anti-trust law.

The company has not yet filed that appeal against the decision, and its current filing only concerns whether the court ruling can be put on hold temporarily.

If the court in San Jose rejects Qualcomm's request, the chipmaker may attempt the same with the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.