Dec. 13, 2006

The ITC (International Trade Commission) in the U.S. has decided that Qualcomm has infringed on a patent held by one of its rivals, Broadcom Corp.

Reportedly, the ITC accepted an administrative law judge recommendation that found Qualcomm did infringe on some of Broadcom's chip patents.

But the recommendation, which was issued two months ago, stopped short of barring the Qualcomm chips in question from import into the U.S.

According to Broadcom, the punishments under consideration are a permanent exclusion order that bars the import of Qualcomm's infringing chips into the United States.

They also include a cease-and-desist order barring Qualcomm from further use or sale of infringing products in the U.S., along with exclusion order barring the importation into the United States of cell phones containing infringing Qualcomm chips.

A solution is expected by February 9, 2007.

In a statement, David A. Dull, Broadcom's senior V.P. and general counsel said "We fully intend to prosecute this ITC case to conclusion, and to continue to aggressively enforce our patent rights against Qualcomm in other pending cases as well."

Qualcomm says it will continue defending itself and will contest the decision, but it noted that the ruling did clear the company of infringement charges relating to two additional Broadcom patents.

Source: Wireless Week