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Federal Court Enjoins Qualcomm's 3G Cellular and Push-to-Talk Products Following Broadcom Patent Win
IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Broadcom Corporation , a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, announced that a federal judge today issued an injunction against Qualcomm Incorporated's continued infringement of three Broadcom patents.
"We are very pleased with today's ruling, which addresses Qualcomm's improper use of our patented technology covering cellular chips and software for advanced consumer devices," said David A. Dull, Broadcom's Senior Vice President and General Counsel. "Broadcom should not have to compete against companies that use Broadcom's own patented technology against us, and this injunction puts a stop to Qualcomm doing just that."
As ordered by U.S. District Court Judge James V. Selna, the injunction prohibits Qualcomm from making, using and selling certain chipsets and software that infringe the three Broadcom patents. The injunction, effective today, also prohibits Qualcomm from engaging in a broad range of additional activities. According to the terms of the injunction, Qualcomm is prohibited, for example, from advertising, marketing or otherwise promoting; entering or fulfilling product orders; setting, determining or approving terms of sale; providing customer service or technical support; negotiating or entering into licensing, representative, reseller or distributor agreements; developing, designing or manufacturing; writing, modifying or updating software; developing or modifying circuits; writing, modifying or updating hardware description code language; or taping out or preparing documentation for, infringing products.
The Infringed Patents
Broadcom's U.S. Patent No. 6,847,686
Under the terms of the injunction, Qualcomm is prohibited from making, using, selling, offering for sale, and importing so-called third generation (3G) WCDMA and EV-DO chips in its "Enhanced Multimedia" and "Convergence" platforms, and from developing new WCDMA and EV-DO chips that use Broadcom's patented video processing chip architecture. Sales of infringing WCDMA chips and new infringing EV-DO chips are enjoined outright, effective immediately. Provided that Qualcomm pays Broadcom a royalty of 6% of all revenues Qualcomm received and receives for sales of infringing EV-DO chips occurring after May 29, 2007, Qualcomm may continue to sell infringing legacy EV-DO chips to legacy customers of those products during the period between May 29, 2007 and January 31, 2009 only.
Broadcom's U.S. Patent No. 5,657,317
The injunction also prohibits Qualcomm from making, using, selling, offering for sale, and importing EV-DO chips found to infringe Broadcom's patent, and from developing new EV-DO chips using Broadcom's patented simultaneous network access technology, which allows a phone to participate on two or more networks concurrently. Sales of new infringing EV-DO chips are enjoined outright, effective immediately. Provided that Qualcomm pays Broadcom a royalty of 4.5% of all revenues Qualcomm received and receives for sales and imports of infringing phones in the U.S. occurring after May 29, 2007, Qualcomm may continue to sell infringing legacy EV-DO chips to legacy customers of those products during the period between May 29, 2007 and January 31, 2009 only.
Broadcom's U.S. Patent No. 6,389,010
Finally, the injunction prohibits Qualcomm from making, using, selling, offering for sale, and importing infringing cellular devices using its QChat(R) "push-to-talk" software, and from developing new push-to-talk software that infringes Broadcom's patented network selection technology. Sales of new infringing QChat devices are enjoined outright, effective immediately. Provided that Qualcomm pays Broadcom a royalty, in an amount to be determined, of all revenues Qualcomm received and receives for sales and imports of infringing QChat devices occurring after May 29, 2007, Qualcomm may continue to sell infringing legacy QChat devices to legacy customers of those products during the period between May 29, 2007 and January 31, 2009 only.
Broadcom filed the case in District Court in Santa Ana, Calif., in May 2005. On May 29, 2007, a unanimous jury returned a verdict finding that Qualcomm infringed three Broadcom patents and awarded $19.64 million in damages for past infringement.
Judge Selna's order may be accessed at http://www.broadcom.com/1231_injunction.
Other Litigation against Qualcomm
The Santa Ana case is one of several cases in which Broadcom continues to pursue claims against Qualcomm regarding patent infringement, anti-competitive behavior and fraud issues. Qualcomm has either lost or withdrawn all of the patent infringement cases it brought against Broadcom.
Patent Infringement Cases
In addition to the Santa Ana case, the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled earlier this year to ban the importation into the U.S. of new phone models containing infringing Qualcomm chips, along with the chips themselves. On September 12, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied Qualcomm's request to stay the effectiveness pending appeal of the ITC's exclusion order that stops the importation into the United States of Qualcomm chips that infringe a Broadcom patent. The Federal Circuit did grant a stay pending appeal as to other parties whose cellular phones containing Qualcomm's infringing chips had been excluded. The Appeals Court made no findings questioning the validity of the patent or its infringement by Qualcomm. Earlier this month, the ITC said it would investigate charges that Qualcomm was violating the agency's order to cease and desist infringing Broadcom's patent.
-- In a separate case in San Diego, Calif., a unanimous federal jury found
that Broadcom had not infringed two Qualcomm patents, and the judge in
the case subsequently found that Qualcomm engaged in "aggravated
litigation misconduct" and "intentional abuse of industry standards
bodies" in the case. In October, a U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge
held a hearing to address the issue of sanctions related to that
misconduct. A decision has not yet issued.
Anticompetition Cases
-- In July 2005, Broadcom filed a complaint in New Jersey district court
alleging that Qualcomm has violated U.S. antitrust laws by, among other
things, encouraging standards bodies to incorporate Qualcomm patented
technology into cell phone standards by promising to license those
patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, and then
reneging on those promises. In August, the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed a lower court's dismissal of
Broadcom's claims, allowing the antitrust case to go forward. A
tentative trial date has been set for June 2009.
-- In October 2005, Broadcom 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. The European Commission
embarked on a preliminary review of the complaints, and on Oct. 1, 2007
announced its intent to allocate priority to its continuing
investigation.
-- Broadcom and another wireless technology company have filed complaints
similar to those filed in with European Commission before the Korean
Fair Trade Commission.
About Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation is a major technology innovator and global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications. Broadcom products enable the delivery of voice, video, data and multimedia to and throughout the home, the office and the mobile environment. We provide the industry's broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art, system-on-a-chip and software solutions to manufacturers of computing and networking equipment, digital entertainment and broadband access products, and mobile devices. These solutions support our core mission: Connecting everything(R).
Broadcom is one of the world's largest fabless semiconductor companies, with 2006 revenue of $3.67 billion, and holds over 2,300 U.S. and 1,000 foreign patents, more than 7,100 additional pending patent applications, and one of the broadest intellectual property portfolios addressing both wired and wireless transmission of voice, video and data. Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and has offices and research facilities in North America, Asia and Europe. Broadcom may be contacted at +1.949.926.5000 or at http://www.broadcom.com/.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:
All statements included or incorporated by reference in this release, other than statements or characterizations of historical fact, are forward- looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry and business, management's beliefs, and certain assumptions made by us, all of which are subject to change. Forward-looking statements can often be identified by words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "predicts," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "may," "will," "should," "would," "could," "potential," "continue," "ongoing," similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statement.
Important factors that may cause such a difference for Broadcom in connection with our litigation with Qualcomm include, but are not limited to, our ability to prevail in the various federal and state lawsuits and other proceedings against Qualcomm, including any appeals; the ability of our patents to protect our intellectual property and products; our ability to enforce our intellectual property rights; and the risks associated with litigation in general, including the costs and time that must be devoted to litigation, the potential diversion of attention of management and key employees that may result from being engaged in litigation, and the possibility of adverse results.
Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, recent Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other Securities and Exchange Commission filings discuss the foregoing risks as well as other important risk factors that could contribute to such differences or otherwise affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. The forward-looking statements in this release speak only as of this date. We undertake no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statement for any reason.
Broadcom(R), the pulse logo, Connecting everything(R) and the Connecting everything logo are among the trademarks of Broadcom Corporation and/or its affiliates in the United States, certain other countries and/or the EU. Qualcomm(R) and QChat(R) are trademarks of Qualcomm Incorporated. Any other trademarks or trade names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
Broadcom Investor Relations Contact
T. Peter Andrew
Vice President, Corporate Communications
949-926-5663
andrewtp@broadcom.com
Broadcom Media Contact
Bill Blanning
Vice President, Global Media Relations
949-926-5555
blanning@broadcom.com
Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060609/BROADCOMLOGOAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Broadcom Corporation; BRCM Corporate
CONTACT: Investors, T. Peter Andrew, Vice President, CorporateCommunications, +1-949-926-5663, andrewtp@broadcom.com, or media,Bill Blanning, Vice President, Global Media Relations, +1-949-926-5555,blanning@broadcom.com, both of Broadcom Corporation
Web site: http://www.broadcom.com/
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