Broadcom sues Qualcomm over patents

IDG News Service - Communications chip vendor Broadcom Corp. has sued Qualcomm Inc., seeking to halt the manufacture and sale of key Qualcomm chips.
The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleges that Qualcomm has infringed on 10 Broadcom patents. Broadcom has also filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), seeking to ban the importation of some foreign-manufactured Qualcomm products that allegedly infringe on Broadcom patents, according to a Broadcom statement today.
Irvine, Calif.-based Broadcom is one of the world's largest vendors of communications silicon. It supplies chips for a wide variety of wired and wireless communications systems, including cellular and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) as well as cable, satellite, DSL and LAN and carrier infrastructure.
San Diego-based Qualcomm pioneered Code Division Multiple Access and develops chip sets for the cellular technology.
Broadcom said it is seeking unspecified monetary damages from Qualcomm and a permanent injunction to ban the manufacture and sale of its core baseband and radio frequency chips, including chips for multimedia and for the QChat VoIP technology, which is used for cellular push-to-talk systems.
In its complaint filed with the ITC today, Broadcom alleged Qualcomm has engaged in unfair trade practices by importing chips and other products that infringe on five Broadcom patents. It wants the agency to investigate Qualcomm and ultimately issue an exclusion order to stop imports of those products into the U.S., as well as a cease-and-desist order to stop further sales of the allegedly infringing products, according to the statement.
Qualcomm had not yet seen a copy of the lawsuit early today and was unable to comment, said spokesman Jeremy James.