SAN DIEGO—A U.S. District Court judge ruled yesterday that Broadcom Corp. can develop and sell third-generation chipsets. Rival Qualcomm Inc. had pushed for a preliminary injunction to stop Broadcom from making the chipsets, accusing Broadcom of misappropriating trade secrets. Broadcom denies those charges.
The request was made in a case pending in federal court between the two parties, now set for trial in October 2007. That patent infringement case was brought by Broadcom in May 2005 against Qualcomm over 3G technology. Qualcomm has alleged, in a countersuit, that Broadcom’s work in 3G chipsets infringes on seven of its own patents.
Earlier this year, Broadcom lost a similar bid for injunctive relief intended to bar Qualcomm from selling chips with 3G technology in the United States, based on a claim that Qualcomm’s products violated 10 Broadcom patents.
In the current case in San Diego, the two chipmakers have agreed to quarantine documents relating to the litigation. Executives from both firms are expected to meet Wednesday in a court-mediated session, though no settlement or other major action is expected to take place. In a similar case filed before the U.S. International Trade Commission, the ITC is expected to issue an opinion on Oct. 10 on patent-infringement charges alleged by Broadcom against Qualcomm.
Last Friday, Broadcom filed a motion for summary judgment in a separate case in U.S. District Court in which Broadcom has alleged that Qualcomm “double dips” by seeking multiple royalties for the same patents and products, charging both chip competitors licensing Qualcomm’s technologies and handset vendor customers.
The disputes between Qualcomm and Broadcom revolve around who owns intellectual property rights to W-CDMA chips for next-generation phones. In other legal action pending before the European Commission, other parties including Nokia Corp. and Texas Instruments Inc. have joined Broadcom in alleging that Qualcomm has engaged in anti-competitive conduct. A decision from the EC is expected later this year.
