Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

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 Corp. (NOK) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: masa who wrote (4690)	3/22/2007 5:50:27 PM
From: Eric L	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 9255

Judge Brewster Upholds San Diego Jury Verdict on QUALCOMM's Patent Ambush << It just is ridiculous that QCOM is suing NOK on GSM patents. >> We'll let the courts decide that. Virtually all financial analysts view QUALCOMM's GSM lawsuits as a negotiating tactic for the WCDMA license renewal. . This San Diego ruling is a rather interesting precedent, however, since the GSM infringement suits against Broadcom (now dropped by QUALCOMM) and the 7 GSM infringement suits QUALCOMM has filed against Nokia in 6 countries all involve alleged GSM patents declared as essential to ETSI after the GSM/GPRS/EDGE standards were set. The first of these QUALCOMM v. Nokia actions was filed in Judge Brewster's courtroom in November 2005 and is still pending. The 5 most recent suits filed in Europe and China claim Nokia infringements of 2 GSM patents -- considerably down from the dozen initially claimed in the friendly environs of Judge Rudi Brewster, QUALCOMM's favorite playground. >> Broadcom Wins One Battle over Qualcomm Kathryn Balint San Diego Union-Tribune March 22, 2007 tinyurl.com A federal judge in San Diego ruled Thursday that wireless technology giant Qualcomm withheld key information from a standards-making body and therefore waived its right to enforce two of its patents. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Rudi Brewster was issued in a 2005 patent-infringement case brought by Qualcomm against rival chipmaker Broadcom involving technology used in an advanced video-compression standard known as H.264. The judge's ruling is a victory for Broadcom, which is in court and administrative disputes with Qualcomm in several venues. The two are in the midst of a two-day hearing before the International Trade Commission in Washington involving a different patent. A jury had earlier found that Broadcom had not infringed on Qualcomm's two video-compression patents, so it's possible Qualcomm would not have tried to enforce its patents against the makers of millions of consumer electronic devices that rely on the standard. Among the devices using the standard are Apple video iPods, high-definition DVD players and cable and satellite TV set-top boxes. In addition, the San Diego federal jury found in two advisory votes to Brewster that Qualcomm had misled the patent office and withheld information from a standards-making body. In his ruling Thursday, the judge found that Qualcomm had not misled the patent office by withholding previous scientific articles on work similar to the company's patented technology. He ruled that the San Diego company failed to tell an international standards-making body that Qualcomm held two patents that may have been key to the H.264 video compression standard. ### >> Federal Court Rules That Qualcomm Abused Industry Standard Setting Process Broadcom PR San Diego March 22, 2007 broadcom.com Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, announced today that a federal district court adopted a unanimous jury finding that Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM) violated its duty to disclose patents to an industry standards body and thereby waived its rights to enforce two patents Qualcomm alleged covered the H.264 video compression standard. Qualcomm filed suit against Broadcom in San Diego federal court in October 2005 alleging that Broadcom® products infringed the two patents, and on January 26, 2007, a unanimous jury found that Broadcom did not infringe the patents. The jury also rendered advisory verdicts that Qualcomm committed inequitable conduct before the USPTO, and that Qualcomm knowingly violated a duty to disclose its patents to the Joint Video Team, or its parent organization, during the JVT's preparation and eventual adoption of the H.264 video compression standard. In a 34 page opinion, the Court found: * "Qualcomm waived its rights to enforce the '104 and '767 patents against H.264 products by its silence in the face of a "clear duty to speak" to identify to the JVT its IPR related to the development of the H.264 standard" * "The non-disclosure of a participant's core patents in such a program could put the participant in a position in which it could literally block the use of the published H.264 standard by any company unless the company obtained a separate license from the participant. Such an undesirable consequence is likely one factor behind the basis for the Federal Circuit ruling in Rambus, which the Court applies in this case." "We are pleased that the court agreed with the jury's recommendation on standards abuse and believe the evidence that came to light in this case is illustrative of Qualcomm's ongoing abuse of the rules of industry standards bodies," said David A. Dull, Broadcom's Senior Vice President and General Counsel. "It confirms what the industry has long suspected: that Qualcomm does not shoot straight with standards bodies. We are continuing to examine their conduct before various cellular and other standards bodies." The San Diego Court is scheduled to hear argument on the appropriate remedy for Qualcomm's abuse on May 2, 2007. Additional Patent Actions Last fall, a United States International Trade Commission (ITC) judge ruled that Qualcomm's cellular baseband chips infringe five claims of a Broadcom patent. The full Commission affirmed that ruling in December and is now considering the appropriate remedy for Qualcomm's infringement. In May 2007, the U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, Calif. is scheduled to try Broadcom's claims that Qualcomm infringes three additional Broadcom patents relating to cellular technology. Broadcom will later litigate in the Santa Ana court the same three patents that were tried last year in the ITC. Antitrust Actions Separately, in other actions, Broadcom has joined five other leading mobile wireless technology companies in filing complaints with the European Commission alleging that Qualcomm has engaged in anticompetitive conduct in the licensing of its patents and the sale of its chipsets for mobile wireless devices and systems. The six companies assert that Qualcomm is violating EU competition law and failing to meet the commitments it made to international standards bodies to license its technology on fair, reasonable and non- discriminatory terms. Broadcom and other wireless technology companies have filed similar complaints before the Korean Fair Trade Commission. Broadcom is also appealing last year's dismissal without prejudice of its federal antitrust lawsuit against Qualcomm. The dismissal, by a U.S. District Judge in New Jersey, was appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in September 2006 where the appeal will likely be heard in June 2007. A number of standards development organizations, consumer advocacy groups, and other mobile wireless firms have filed amicus briefs with that court in support of the position that violations of industry standards-making processes can give rise to antitrust liability. ### No QUALCOMM press release is yet available despite the fact that it appears that Judge Brewster found for Qualcomm relative to the jury's 2nd advisory finding of inequitable conduct. Best, - Eric -