To: carranza2 who wrote (910 ) 8/16/2007 9:21:17 AM From: manalagi Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 9129 Jacobs testifies against chip ban Qualcomm's chairman wants license agreement By Jennifer Davies STAFF WRITER August 16, 2007 SANTA ANA – Qualcomm Chairman Irwin Jacobs took the stand yesterday to try to persuade a federal judge not to ban the sale of the company's cell phone chips, saying such a move could inflict substantial harm to its business. Irwin Jacobs Jacobs, the Qualcomm co-founder who stepped down as CEO two years ago, testified in front of U.S. District Judge James Selna, who is trying to determine if Qualcomm should face further punishment for infringing on three patents held by its rival Broadcom. In May, a Santa Ana jury found that Qualcomm was infringing on a video compression patent, a push-to-talk patent as well as a patent on technology that helps transfer calls between networks. Last week, Selna doubled the jury's damages to $39.3 million and ordered Qualcomm to pay Broadcom's legal expenses. Broadcom attorney William Lee took Jacobs to task for Qualcomm's historically tough stance against infringement when it came to Qualcomm's patents. Repeatedly, Lee pointed out that Qualcomm has sought injunctions when its patents have been infringed. Jacobs answered that Qualcomm's goal is to sign license agreements so companies can use its patented technology for a fee. “We've never had injunctive relief,” Jacobs said. “Our objective is always to have a license.” Qualcomm says it would like the judge to order a compulsory licensing agreement with Broadcom, under which it would pay a set rate to use the three patents, an estimated 2 percent on Qualcomm's worldwide chip sales. David Rosmann, Broadcom's vice president of intellectual property litigation, said the proposal was ridiculous. Rosmann compared it to someone building a driveway on your property and instead of removing the driveway, offering to pay $10 a year to keep it there. “Instead of 'stop trespassing,' it's 'we'll pay you to trespass,' ” he said of Qualcomm's reasoning. For its part, Broadcom wants Selna to prohibit Qualcomm from selling W-CDMA chips, a next-generation wireless technology that is rapidly being adopted around the world. For Qualcomm's homegrown wireless technology, which is used by such wireless phone companies as Sprint, Broadcom wants an 18-month phaseout. During that time, Qualcomm would have to pay a royalty rate of 6 percent per phone sold in the United States, which Rosmann estimated would be from $6 to $8 a phone. On the stand, Jacobs said 18 months might not be enough time to come up with a work-around for Broadcom's patents. While Qualcomm now is saying a possible ban could be a huge hit to its business, Broadcom's attorneys argued that Qualcomm has changed its story on that issue in this case and others. Lee pointed out that former general counsel Lou Lupin, who resigned earlier this week for personal reasons, told the media after the verdict in May that it would have little effect. Jacobs said the impact could be substantial. “Qualcomm has established a track record of saying, 'This isn't going to affect us' to the markets and saying another thing to the courts,” Rosmann said. Lee also tried to get Jacobs to concede that Broadcom was a direct competitor to Qualcomm, which could be a key point in persuading Selna to order an injunction against Qualcomm's chips. In his testimony, Jacobs repeatedly pointed out that Broadcom does not yet sell a certain type of next-generation wireless chips, known as W-CDMA. Testimony is expected to conclude by Friday morning at the latest, and Selna should issue his decision in September. If an injunction is ordered, it could be another huge setback for Qualcomm, which has been battered on several fronts in recent weeks. Last week, the Bush administration let stand a U.S. International Trade Commission ban on new phone models that use the company's wireless chips. The ban had been imposed as a way to punish Qualcomm for infringing on another patent held by Broadcom. Additionally, a federal judge ruled that Qualcomm knowingly failed to turn over thousands of relevant documents in a separate patent trial against Broadcom. Judge Rudi Brewster said Qualcomm not only concealed documents, but also intentionally deceived a standards body. Because of Qualcomm's “exceptional” misconduct, Brewster ordered the company to pay Broadcom's legal expenses, which could run as high as $10 million. signonsandiego.com