Qualcomm Hits Back

Qualcomm is returning fire in an escalating legal battle
with Broadcom .

The San Diego company today said it filed a federal lawsuit against its
Irvine, Calif., rival alleging infringement of seven patents: six relate to
semiconductors used in GSM handsets, one concerns chips used in
Wi-Fi devices.

Qualcomm, which recently celebrated its 20th year in business, is asking for
a court order to stop Broadcom from making and selling the chips as well as
monetary damages.

“Our complaint, based upon our initial review of Broadcom’s business,
discloses that a number of Broadcom’s major product lines infringe
Qualcomm’s patents,” said Louis M. Lupin, Qualcomm’s general counsel, said
in a statement.

Lupin said Qualcomm will continue to examine Broadcom’s other businesses
lines to see if they use technology covered by any of Qualcomm’s 3,000
patents.

Today’s suit comes one week after Broadcom sued
Qualcomm, claiming that Qualcomm’s licensing of third-generation mobile
technology violates antitrust laws. And earlier this year, Broadcom sued
Qualcomm for alleged patent infringement.

“Qualcomm’s filing . . . is in response to the lawsuits that we filed
against Qualcomm on May 18 alleging infringement of 10 Broadcom patents,”
Bill Blanning, a Broadcom spokesman, told internetnews.com. “It is
very common for defendants in patent cases to respond with countersuits.”

Blanning said Broadcom is confident it will prevail when the cases make
their way to court. Broadcom also has a complaint pending with the
International Trade Commission over Qualcomm’s trade practices, Blanning
said.