Broadcom wins in infringement case against Qualcomm

A federal judge has maintained that Qualcomm Inc. infringed on three Broadcom Corp. patent related to video compression and technology that allows handsets to simultaneously access data and voice networks.

Despite the favourable ruling, the latest turn in the Broadcom-Qualcomm saga overturned U.S. District Court Judge James V. Selna's earlier decision to double the damages a jury had awarded to Broadcom to Rs.155,43 crore ($39.3 million).

Broadcom said it would now seek to prevent Qualcomm from making, using, selling, and developing 3G W-CDMA and EV-DO cellular chips that infringe any of the three patents that were in question.

Earlier this year, a unanimous federal jury in Santa Ana, California found that Qualcomm infringed three Broadcom cellphone baseband patents, and that the infringement had been willful, allowing the judge to double the damage award to Broadcom for past infringement from Rs.77.52 crore ($19.6 million) to Rs.155,43 crore ($39.3 million).

Judge Selna last week gave Broadcom the option to accept the decision or seek a new trial in which the issue of willfulness would be tried again, along with the infringement claims. Broadcom announced Nov. 22 it plans to accept the Rs.77.52 crore ($19.6 million) in compensatory damages and not seek a new trial. It added it would immediately pursue an injunction against Qualcomm's infringing products.

- John Walko
EE Times Europe