US Trade Commission bans phones with Qualcomm chips

Stuart Corner
Friday, 08 June 2007 07:49

IT Industry - Deals

The US International Trade Commission has banned the import into the US of mobile phones incorporating Qualcomm chipsets which infringe a patent owned by rival chip maker, Broadcom.

The ban does not apply to models that were being imported and on sale to the general public on or before the date of the order, June 7, 2007, only to any new phones incorporating the offending chips. It is not yet clear which manufacturers will be affected. US reports quote commentators speculating that worst hit will be Korean manufacturers, Samsung and LG whose products are sold by Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel and Alltel, three of the nation's five largest network operators.

The Commission is also issuing a cease and desist order that prevents Qualcomm from engaging in certain activities within the United States related to the infringing chips.

This is Broadcom's second victory over Qualcomm in a week. Broadcom has also pursued patent infringement claims against Qualcomm in US District Court in Santa Ana, California where on May 29 a federal jury found Qualcomm liable for wilfully infringing three different Broadcom patents and awarded Broadcom $US19.64 million in damage. According to Broadcom, this may be trebled by the judge due to the finding of wilful infringement. Broadcom says it also plans to seek an injunction to bar future infringement by Qualcomm.

The Commission says it considered not extending the ban to downstream products incorporating the offending chipsets but because these are not imported in significant quantities, an exclusion order covering only the chips and chipsets, and not downstream products, "would afford little or no relief to the patent holder." Its decision to net extend the ban to previously imported products was "to substantially reduce the burdens imposed on third parties while affording meaningful relief to the patent holder."