Commission Extends Deadline - WSJ
In Qualcomm-Broadcom Case
By COREY BOLES and ROGER CHENG
May 26, 2007
The U.S. International Trade Commission said it was extending its deadline on deciding potential damages in a patent dispute between Qualcomm Inc. and Broadcom Corp.
Broadcom has pushed the ITC to ban handsets with third-generation, or 3G, chips that Qualcomm makes, arguing that the infringement of one of its patents warrants the measure.
The tribunal had been expected to issue a decision Friday on what, if any, action San Diego-based Qualcomm had to take. In October, an administration-law judge said the ban was too excessive a punishment.
In a brief statement released on its Web site, the ITC said it had decided to extend its investigation until June 7.
The ITC must decide whether to impose no penalty on Qualcomm, a partial ban of 3G cellphones using one type of technology or a total ban of all 3G phones using the technology.
The administrative-law judge had ruled that Qualcomm illegally used a Broadcom patent that covers how a cellphone conserves power when it is out of range of a radio-frequency signal. Qualcomm said the patent is irrelevant, while a host of U.S. companies, such as Verizon Wireless, jointly owned by Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC, say a ban would hurt the entire industry.
Broadcom, meanwhile, believes Qualcomm deserves punishment. "There is nothing in the law that permits Qualcomm to misappropriate the [intellectual property] of others with impunity," Broadcom spokesman William Blanning said in an emailed statement. "Qualcomm expects other companies to respect and pay dearly for the use of its intellectual property, but itself refuses to respect the intellectual property of others."
The only real punitive weapon in the ITC's arsenal is barring importing products using Qualcomm technology. But if the agency follows the initial recommendation and doesn't proceed with the ban, it effectively closes a chapter in the legal saga between Qualcomm and Broadcom, based in Irvine, Calif.
Write to Corey Boles at corey.boles@dowjones.com1 and Roger Cheng at roger.cheng@dowjones.com2 |
