SAN DIEGO—A squabble over documents in the heated legal battle between chipmakers Qualcomm Inc. and Broadcom Corp. serves to highlight the contentious nature of the companies’ fight, as both players took completely different stances over a relatively minor courtroom event.
Earlier this week, Broadcom announced that a U.S. District Court judge ruled against Qualcomm’s call for a halt to Broadcom’s CDMA efforts. Just a day later, however, Qualcomm took umbrage with Broadcom’s announcement with a statement of its own.
“A Broadcom press release incorrectly reported that the judge had denied Qualcomm’s request for a preliminary injunction. To the contrary, Broadcom agreed that an injunction should be issued, and the judge continued the hearing to October 27, so that the scope of an appropriate injunction could be determined,” Qualcomm said.
A Qualcomm spokeswoman explained that the judge essentially set out a process to determine the scope of the injunction, and that a ruling on the matter would be made later this month.
The issue essentially boils down to documents in Broadcom’s possession that Qualcomm claims are trade secrets.
Broadcom said it stands by its initial release on the issue. A Broadcom spokesman said the judge indeed did reject a Qualcomm-requested injunction on Broadcom’s CDMA chip efforts—a win for Broadcom. But, Broadcom said, the judge did order the companies to meet to discuss the documents, which the judge could order Broadcom to stop using until the case is resolved.
The actual courtroom events that precipitated the squabble were not immediately clear. There were no official court documents available that outlined the events.
The disputes between Qualcomm and Broadcom revolve around who owns intellectual property rights to W-CDMA chips for next-generation phones.
