Samsung, Panasonic cleared to use Broadcom chips

By Colleen Taylor -- Electronic News, 2/12/2007

Communications chipmaker Broadcom Corp. said today that a recent ruling by a U.S. District Court clears the way for cellular handset makers Samsung and Panasonic to continue using Broadcom's chips in WCDMA-based handsets without the threat of patent infringement claims by Qualcomm Inc.

The court granted partial summary judgment in favor of Broadcom in a January ruling that Broadcom customers Samsung and Panasonic are permitted to use Broadcom's chips in their WCDMA-based cellular handsets under the terms of their existing patent licenses with Qualcomm.

Broadcom filed its motion for partial summary judgment in December 2006 in response to Qualcomm's claim that Broadcom's sales of 3G WCDMA chips infringe a patent asserted by Qualcomm in the on-going patent litigation between the companies. The court agreed with Broadcom that both customers are licensed to incorporate Broadcom's 3G cellular chips into WCDMA-based handsets. The ruling did not address Qualcomm's remaining claims of direct infringement against Broadcom's U.S.-based testing.

For its part, Qualcomm has expressed dissatisfaction with the court's latest ruling. “We appreciate the difficult task that the jury faced in trying to understand the complex technical issues in the case, and are pleased that they found that our patents are valid,” said Lou Lupin, executive VP and general counsel for Qualcomm, in a statement. “We disagree with the remainder of the jury's findings and are quite disappointed with the advisory votes.”

David Rosmann, VP of intellectual property litigation at Broadcom added, “This is an important victory for Broadcom because it removes the threat of Qualcomm launching patent infringement suits against our current 3G customers and substantially reduces the scope of Qualcomm's patent claims against Broadcom's 3G business.”

“The ruling provides needed breathing room for our customers to deploy next generation handsets without the risk of litigation and is expected to accelerate the deployment of 3G networks worldwide,” Rosmann concluded.