Wednesday, July 6, 2005

Broadcom, Qualcomm In Antitrust Battle

Irvine-based Broadcom and San Diego-based Qualcomm have engaged in the latest patent related battle, as Bradcom announced yesterday that it has engaged in litigation against Qualcomm claiming that Qualcomm's licensing and other practices violate U.S. antitrust laws. Broadcom filed a complaint July 1st in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey asserting that Qualcomm has abused the wireless standards-setting process, and that Qualcomm collects discriminatory royalties, collecting double royalties, and demanding overly broad cross-license rights from its licensees. Qualcomm responded in a statement saying that the suit by Broadcom is meritless. Qualcomm said that it has granted more than 130 licenses to a broad range of companies, and blamed Broadcom's inability to attract customers for its WCDMA products.

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