SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Technology Stocks : Nokia (NOK) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: slacker711 who wrote (5106)5/30/2000 2:18:00 PM
From: carranza2  Respond to of 34857
 
Thanks, slacker, for correcting me on Motorola. I was under the impression that it agreed to settle much along the same lines as Ericsson. Apparently not.

In my view, the GSM-to-DS CDMA upgrade path requires discussion of the IPR issue.

It is incredible that some companies are contemplating DS CDMA rollouts without the IPR issue having been resolved. Or am I missing something, which is always possible?

Tero, if you're lurking, I'm not in the "W-CDMA is dead" camp. It clearly is a feasible technology even if it was created specifically to obstruct.



To: slacker711 who wrote (5106)5/30/2000 3:21:00 PM
From: carranza2  Respond to of 34857
 
Motorola has resoundingly lost the DS CDMA battle to the Q in Korea. The following is pertinent text of a January 20, 2000 press release:

Important Claims of Key QUALCOMM Patent Upheld in Korea

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM), pioneer and world leader of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital wireless technology, today announced that the Korean Industrial Property Office (KIPO), the patent agency of Korea, has upheld the validity of 46 of 49 claims of QUALCOMM's Korean Patent No. 134390. The KIPO's decision came in response to an opposition to all claims of the patent initiated by Motorola. The KIPO rejected nearly the entirety of Motorola's challenge, confirming the validity of the 46 claims in the face of more than 15 new references cited by Motorola as alleged prior art. Claims of this patent that were confirmed are essential to both Second (2G) and Third Generation (3G) CDMA wireless telecommunications standards, covering critical specifications of such standards.

The patent, entitled "System and method for generating signal waveforms in a CDMA cellular telephone system," describes inventions for generating the basic CDMA waveforms used in CDMA wireless systems such as IS-95 and the systems proposed for 3G standards. The inventions of the patent enable multiple callers in a CDMA wireless telecommunications network to efficiently use the same frequency band without mutual interference, allowing for greater system capacity and better link performance.

"We are certainly pleased with that portion of the KIPO's decision upholding the validity of the overwhelming majority of our claims. The confirmation of our invention in the face of the additional references significantly strengthens the patent in Korea," said Ben Miller, vice president and chief patent strategist for QUALCOMM. "While we respectfully disagree with the patent examiner's decision to cancel three claims and will appeal, that decision does not change the applicability of the patent to all of the CDMA standards in practice today in Korea or those under consideration for future adoption. The 46 remaining claims cover these standards quite extensively. In addition, we have many other patents issued and pending in Korea and around the world that cover essential features and specifications of these standards."

The disposition of this Korean patent does not have any effect on patents for this invention issued or pending in the United States or in any other country. In fact, the validity of all 49 claims of the United States counterpart to this patent, U.S. Patent 5,103,459, was affirmed last year by the United States Patent and Trademark Office in the face of two requests for reexamination filed by anonymous requestors in 1996 and 1997, in which more than 80 additional references were submitted to the Patent Office by the requestors and by QUALCOMM. The Patent Office, after carefully reviewing all the additional prior art, concluded that the patent was valid and that QUALCOMM was also entitled to 19 new claims.

QUALCOMM's pioneering efforts in the development of CDMA cellular technology have yielded more than 300 issued United States patents relating to CDMA and hundreds of issued and pending CDMA patent applications around the world. QUALCOMM holds dozens of patents that are essential to the leading standards. In particular, QUALCOMM has identified to international standards setting organizations more than 100 separate patents and published applications (not counting foreign counterparts) relevant to the W-CDMA standard proposed to those bodies for 3G wireless systems. More than 75 major manufacturers of telecommunications equipment have taken royalty-bearing licenses under QUALCOMM's patent portfolio.

Many of QUALCOMM's patents are in various stages of the application process in other countries and could become the subject of opposition proceedings, a common part of the patent process outside the United States. QUALCOMM will continue to vigorously pursue its intellectual property rights around the world.



To: slacker711 who wrote (5106)5/30/2000 10:59:00 PM
From: Allen  Respond to of 34857
 
With regards to handsets....Ericsson HAS agreed to pay royalties to Qualcomm.

Let me extract a single line from the article -

the royalty rates are independent (his emphasis) of which of the modes are being used for CDMA and so it's not [that issue, it is solved] (I'm unsure on wording here) between the two companies.

That would tend to imply what I suspect, that there aren't 3G specific licenses. Anyone who has a license to use Qualcomm's patents can use them for whatever technology. So unless Qualcomm has patents that apply specifically to W-CDMA but not any of the other variants of CDMA, I wouldn't expect any separate licensing for W-CDMA.



To: slacker711 who wrote (5106)5/31/2000 5:19:00 PM
From: Mr.Fun  Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 34857
 
ericsson SAYS in meetings with investors that the royalty situation with Qualcomm for W-CDMA is not resolved and that it expects to get as much payment from Q as it makes to Q. Now, of course that is rhetoric, but then again, so are the quotations from Q. I suspect that Ericsson WILL eventually agree to a paying more to Q than it receives, but probably not at the rate it pays for CDMA-One. This is of course a guess based on ERicsson's body language.