Judge Rules Qualcomm Infringed Broadcom Patent

By Colleen Taylor -- Electronic News, 10/11/2006

A U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) judge ruled today that Qualcomm Inc. did not infringe two of the three patents asserted by Broadcom Corp. in the companies' ongoing legal tussle. However, the ITC did rule that Qualcomm has infringed five claims of one of the three Broadcom patents at issue.

In his ruling, the judge found that Qualcomm has violated U.S. trade laws by importing chips and chipsets that infringe Broadcom's patent. The ITC is expected to issue a permanent exclusion order barring the importation into the United States of infringing Qualcomm chips, as well as a cease and desist order barring further sales of infringing products that have already been imported into the United States by Qualcomm.

The infringing products include cellular baseband processor chips that comprise Qualcomm's core suite of enhanced multimedia and convergence handset platforms.

Qualcomm, for its part, maintains that the patent is invalid and not infringed and plans to ask the ITC to ignore the judge's order. Nevertheless, Qualcomm said it is exploring designs to replace the features accused of infringement.

In the next step of the ITC process, the judge's initial determination will be forwarded to the full commission, comprised of six members. The commission is scheduled to make its final determination by February 9, 2007.

The ITC action was the first of several patent disputes between the companies to go to trial. The legal battles between Broadcom have spanned several years and several continents, however. In total, Broadcom has asserted that Qualcomm products infringe 18 U.S. patents. Qualcomm will face trial on two more of the Broadcom patents in March 2007 in San Diego, and on five more in May 2007 in Santa Ana, Calif.

In October 2005, Broadcom and five other leading mobile wireless technology companies filed complaints with the European Commission requesting that the Commission investigate Qualcomm's conduct related to the licensing of its patents and the sale of its chipsets for mobile wireless devices and systems. The EC commenced a preliminary investigation, and is determining whether to institute a formal investigation of Qualcomm. A decision is expected later this year.

In June, Broadcom and another leading mobile wireless technology company filed complaints with the Korean Fair Trade Commission asserting claims comparable to those asserted in the EC. The Korean FTC is determining whether to institute a formal investigation of Qualcomm.