Qualcomm [corporate website], a producer of processing chipsets, on Tuesday accused [amended complaint, PDF] Apple [corporate website] of engaging in a years-long scheme to steal Qualcomm’s corporate secrets surrounding its chip-making process in order to pass them along to Intel, a main competitor of Qualcomm and the current supplier of processing chips found in many Apple products.

In the original complaint, Qualcomm accused Apple of violating agreements the two companies entered into by failing to allow Qualcomm to take its own measures to ensure that Apple was complying with the substantive terms of these agreements. The second amendment will now add a cause of action “for trade secret misappropriation.”

According to a statement filed in support of the amended complaint, the need to file an amended complaint came out of new revelations concerning Apple’s conduct that arose during the discovery process. The statement claims that, after a number of back-and-forth filings, including a motion for sanctions, Apple finally produced all materials related to any communications Apple had with chipset suppliers. Although Qualcomm states that the review of the materials provided is still ongoing, the information discovered suggested “a multi-year campaign designed to steal Qualcomm’s confidential information and trade secrets.”

The amended complaint states that Apple:

[stole] Qualcomm’s confidential information and trade secrets for the purpose of improving the performance and accelerating time to make market of lower-quality modem chipsets, including those developed by Intel Corporation, … a competitor of Qualcomm, to render such chipsets useable in Apple iPhones and other devices, with the ultimate goal of diverting Qualcomm’s Apple-based business to Intel.

Apple responded [ARS Technica report] to the allegations by claiming that Qualcomm does not have any evidence to support their allegations. According to Apple, they filed a Motion to Compel any evidence Qualcomm has in support of these allegations and Qualcomm has yet to respond. Apple also noted that Qualcomm did not attach any documents or any other evidence supporting these allegations to their amended complaint.

Qualcomm responded to Apple’s statements by point to an online post in which a laid-off Intel employee seemingly admitted to “copying” Qualcomm’s technology through “hints” from Apple in the form of a “reference device.”

Apple also currently has a number of counterclaims in this matter that assert that Qualcomm chips infringed on patents held by Apple.