Qualcomm to pay Broadcom $19.6 million

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. µ

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