Qualcomm chips face US ban

A LONG running battle between Qualcomm and Broadcom over who will control 3G technology might all be decided by an International Trade Commission official.

Broadcom says the Qualcomm technology, which provides high-speed Internet access and lets users view high-quality videos, violates its patents.

According to Bloomberg, Broadcom is going to approach the International Trade Commission to kick Qualcomm out of the US market.

The complex technology and other issues are not going to be decided by technical person. Charles Bullock is an administrative law judge at the ITC and he will decide on October 10 whether the government should bar the Qualcomm-powered phones.

The only hope is that that Bullock's decision will be not be endorsed by a six member commission, which is made up of three Republicans and three Democrats. Then it will be into the normal legal appeals process.

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