WASHINGTON, Oct 3 - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday again declined to hear Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) bid to revive an effort to cancel three Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) smartphone patents despite the settlement of the underlying dispute between the two tech giants.read moreQualcomm sued Apple in San Diego federal court in 2017, arguing that its iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches infringed a variety of mobile-technology patents.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comApple challenged the validity of the patents at issue in this case at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board.The companies settled their underlying fight in 2019, signing an agreement worth billions of dollars that let Apple continue using Qualcomm chips in iPhones.A Federal Circuit three-judge panel, in a 2-1 ruling, dismissed the case last year for a lack of standing, finding that Apple's risk of being sued again was speculative and the challenge would not affect its payment obligations under the settlement."