Qualcomm the chipmaker which seems to specialise in suing its rivals, found
itself on the wrong end of a patent suit from rival supplier, Broadcom. A jury
has just awarded damages of $19.6 million against Qualcomm. If Judge James Selna
of the US District Court in Santa Ana decides that the infringement was done
intentionally, he may well increase the fine to as much as $60 million. The
three patents in question relate to mobile phone technology including video
compression, push-to-talk and a technique that enables a handset to
simultaneously access data and voice networks. Qualcomm actually disputed
whether the patents were infringed, let alone conceded that it had done so
wilfully.
This doesn't augur too well for a decision due to be made by the US
International Trade Commission (ITC) on June 7th as to whether imports of
handsets containing Qualcomm's chips should be banned. That case has, once
again, been brought by Broadcom over a different patent which it says Qualcomm
has infringed. Meanwhile Nokia, which has taken Qualcomm to court over alleged
patent infringements, is claiming that the dispute over royalties it is having
with Qualcomm is harming the growth of the entire W-CDMA industry. Which is
somewhat ironic since Qualcomm Ventures has only recent said it intends to
invest some $100 million in European companies who are pioneering W-CDMA
technology.
