SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. announced the U.S. District Court in San Diego has granted the company’s motions for summary judgment in its long-standing litigation with Motorola Inc. over patent-infringement claims associated with Motorola’s StarTac handset.
Qualcomm said the San Diego court granted the motions that said Qualcomm’s Q phone does not infringe two Motorola patents on the appearance of Motorola’s StarTac phone because it does not have the appearance features that differentiate the Motorola patents.
The dispute between the two companies began in February 1997, when Qualcomm introduced its Q phone series at a Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association trade show. Motorola claimed the new CDMA handset violated Motorola’s patents because it copied the basic look and functions of its StarTac wearable phone.
In recent months, both Qualcomm and Motorola have expanded the dispute with a new lawsuit that claims breach of contract. In July, Qualcomm filed a new lawsuit, asking the district court to terminate all of Motorola’s Code Division Multiple Access licenses that Qualcomm granted the company under a patent license agreement, claiming the infringement case Motorola had pending against it violated Qualcomm’s 1990 patent agreements with the company. Qualcomm also claims Motorola failed to grant certain sublicenses to Qualcomm under the patent license agreement.
Motorola countersued, charging Qualcomm with breach of contract as well. Motorola claims the two companies cross-licensed certain intellectual property rights and agreed to work together to develop and commercialize CDMA technology, said Motorola. Motorola said it agreed to and invested substantial amounts of money in Qualcomm’s development of CDMA technology and made Motorola’s technology available to Qualcomm. In return, Qualcomm agreed to give Motorola favorable licensing treatment and royalty-sharing rights to give Motorola an advantage in the CDMA marketplace over later licensees. Motorola claims Qualcomm’s licensing process has not given it the advantages envisioned. Motorola is seeking specific enforcement of the agreements, damages and injunctive relief.
Now Qualcomm has announced it has expanded the July lawsuit to include claims for patent infringement by Motorola CDMA phones, including the StarTac and other models. Qualcomm said Motorola’s handsets violate patents because the vendor applied for patents after the invention period covered by the 1990 agreement.
