A Federal District Judge has ordered Qualcomm to stop selling 3G wireless chipsets in the United States that were found to infringe on three Broadcom patents. Broadcom filed the patent infringement suit against the rival chipmaker in 2005; in May of last year, a jury unanimously found certain Qualcomm wireless chips infringed on three Broadcom patents.
While Qualcomm has filed appeals on the court’s earlier decision, Judge Selna’s ruling on Monday prohibits the company “from making, using and selling certain chipsets and software” that infringe on the three Broadcom patents. The ruling included a “sunset provision” that stays the order until Jan. 31, 2009, for QChat and 1X EV-DO products. The provision provides Qualcomm a limited license, subject to an ongoing royalty payment, to continue to sell certain chipsets. The license is limited to products that were sold to customers on or before May 29, 2007.
Qualcomm said in a statement that it is reviewing the court’s “complex ruling” and expects it will require further clarification from the court on various aspects of the ruling, including the effect of Verizon Wireless’ existing license agreement with Broadcom.
Qualcomm also said that it expects the ruling to have “immediate short-term impact” as vendors transition over to new chip designs. The chipmaker announced that chipsets that comply with the judge’s ruling are now available and that it expects them to be in use in handsets by the end of this quarter.
Broadcom said in a statement that it is “very pleased” with the ruling.
Filed Under: Infrastructure