NEW YORK—Broadcom Corp.’s share price popped up 3 percent while Qualcomm Inc.’s fell 2 percent yesterday after a UBS analyst reported that a staff attorney for the International Trade Commission advised an ITC judge that Qualcomm infringed on two Broadcom patents for cell phone chips.
That’s the market for you.
An ITC spokesperson, Qualcomm and the UBS analyst himself all followed the initial news with cautionary remarks pointing out that the staff attorney’s view is but one element in the evidence to be weighed by an ITC judge, whose initial determination in the case is due around August 21. The full Commission’s finding is due December 21.
The administrative law judge hearing the case and the Commission itself can accept or reject the staff attorney’s findings. Qualcomm continues to maintain that it is not infringing on Broadcom’s patents.
Broadcom sued Qualcomm in February 2005 through the ITC, an independent U.S. federal agency with the power to uphold patents and enforce injunctive actions. The ITC’s decisions may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Broadcom alleges that Qualcomm infringed on three of its patents. The ITC staff attorney cited by UBS found that Broadcom’s three patents were valid and that Qualcomm had infringed on two of them with its CDMA and W-CDMA baseband chips.
