GPS wars: Broadcom wins patent victory against SiRF

by Davey Winder

Sunday, 10 August 2008

Page 1 of 2 ! A US International Trade Commission ruling against SiRF Technology Holdings concerning six patents held by Broadcom subsidiary Global Locate says that all are valid, enforceable and have been infringed. The initial determination covers products incorporating SiRFstarIII GPS architectures which include devices from Garmin, Mio, Motorola, Navman, Sony and TomTom amongst many others... The Global Positioning System, a constellation of up to 32 Medium Earth Orbiting satellites, was born out of a military need. Developed by the United States Department of Defence, NAVSTAR-GPS is more commonly known just as GPS these days. Managed by the United States Air Force 50th Space Wing, GPS was made available for civilian use after President Ronald Reagan issued a 1983 directive that it should be used for the common good. The rest is, as they say, history. Where would we be, you might ask, without GPS Satnav for our cars today? The answer, at least in my case, is almost certainly lost. The military history behind GPS is kind of apt, given that two of the giants of the 21st Century GPS industry appear to be at war. Things started going pear-shaped when GPS chipmaker SiRF Technology Holdings claimed that rival GPS chip outfit Global Locate, which had earlier been acquired by Broadcom, had infringed upon four of its patents. Two of the claims were dropped by SiRF before the case went to trial. Following a six day trial, ITC Administrative Law Judge Paul Luckern not only rejected the patent infringement claims, but also found that the asserted claims of one of those patents at issue were actually invalid. Back in April, a month after the SiRF allegations were debated in court, Broadcom's own patent infringement claims against SiRF went to trial. Global Locate had filed six claims of patent infringement against SiRF in the ITC. Now Judge Carl C Charneski has determined that SiRF has infringed on six patents related to technology that improves GPS processing and sensitivity. The ITC Initial Determination applies to those SiRF products which incorporate the SiRFstarIII and SiRFInstant GPS architectures. What are the specific patents involved, and what does Broadcom Vice President David Rosmann have to say about the GPS wars? Find out on page 2... CONTINUES << First page <   1 2 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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