Qualcomm, Broadcom Drop Many Suits
Broadcom and Qualcomm dropped several patent lawsuits against one another. The deal heads off jury trials in all 5 Qualcomm suits against Broadcom -- including high-profile claims of infringement and trade secret misappropriation in U.S. Dist. Court, San Diego -- and counterclaims by Broadcom. The settled suits involved 6 Broadcom patents and 4 Qualcomm holds. Meanwhile, Nokia sued in the Netherlands and Germany, seeking declarations that many Qualcomm patents no longer apply in the EU.
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Qualcomm will dismiss all its remaining cases awaiting trial, including high-profile claims of patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation in U.S. Dist. Court, San Diego. Broadcom, in turn, dropped all counterclaims in those cases but said its own suits against its rival remain intact. Those include a patent action with the International Trade Commission, which will set penalties against Qualcomm this month for infringing a battery power conservation patent (CD Feb 14 p 8) and separate patent cases in U.S. Dist. Court, Santa Ana, that start in May. Both parties await a ruling in a San Diego case after a jury found Broadcom didn’t infringe Qualcomm patents; the case hasn’t been dropped while the judge reviews 2 advisory verdicts regarding the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
This is the 2nd time in 2 months the manufacturers have settled claims against each other (CD Feb 26 p5). The last compromise included 2 other suits in San Diego, Qualcomm’s home city. Qualcomm withdrew all its patent-related claims without prejudice, reserving the right to refile its trade secret misappropriation claims, it said in a news release over the weekend.
Meanwhile, Nokia sought to invalidate Qualcomm’s patent claims on grounds that they're “exhausted” with respect to products sold in the EU. Nokia filed in Mannheim, Germany, and The Hague, Netherlands, seeking court declarations to that effect, it said, adding that if it wins Qualcomm no longer could enforce patent rights on Nokia phones that incorporate Tex. Instruments (TI) chipsets. Qualcomm’s claims stemmed from a patent portfolio license deal with TI in 2000. Nokia and Qualcomm’s licensing agreement expires April 9.