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Qualcomm loses patent dispute on new years eve |
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Written by Felix Da Silva (fdasilva@bitnip.com)
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Tuesday, 01 January 2008 |
 In a New Year's Eve ruling, a Santa Ana federal judge said wireless giant
Qualcomm must stop selling some of the high-speed data chips that infringe on three
rival Broadcom's patents.
According to Signonsandiego.com, the chips that use WCDMA technology make up a small, but rapidly growing,
portion of the U.S. phone market and are used primarily in AT&T and T-Mobile
phones in this country.
The patents concerened cover digital video technology, technology for allowing cellphones
to use two or more networks simultaneously and a "push-to-talk" feature that
allows cellphone users to work like walkie-talkie radios.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge James Selna is the latest in a series of
recent court victories by Broadcom against Qualcomm. The two chip makers have filed a series of suits against each other, after failing to
reach an agreement to license each other's patents.
However, the Judge allowed the chips for some cellphones now on the market can continue to be sold until
January 2009 provided that Qualcomm pays Broadcom royalties from the date of the
jury's verdict last May 29.
According to the ruling:
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The royalty rate for the video patent was set at 6% of the revenue Qualcom
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The royalty rate for the patent on using two networks was set at 4.5% of the revenue Qualcomm
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The companies will have to negotatie a rate for the patent on "push to talk"
Happy new year Qualcomm.
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