Broadcom to pursue injunction against Qualcomm
Broadcom to be awarded $19.6M in damages
November 26, 2007 (IDG News Service) -- A federal court judge has cleared the way for wireless chip maker Broadcom Corp. to pursue an injunction against rival Qualcomm Inc. after a long-running patent dispute.
Judge James V. Selna of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California last week finalized a federal jury's conclusion in May that Qualcomm willfully infringed on three of Broadcom's cellular phone baseband patents.
Broadcom will be awarded $19.6 million in compensatory damages. The company said on Friday that it will now pursue an injunction to stop Qualcomm from making third-generation and EV-DO cellular chips that infringe on the patents.
Selna originally doubled the damages in light of another court ruling, but later overturned it after a change in federal law. Broadcom could have requested a new trial that would have determined the extent to which Qualcomm willfully infringed, but the company declined.
Broadcom attorney David Rosmann said last month that obtaining an injunction was more important than damages.
"We are pleased with the court's ruling on willfulness and damages," said Alex H. Rogers, senior vice president and legal counsel at Qualcomm, in a statement on the company's Web site.
The suit is one of several between Qualcomm and Broadcom, which are battling over the market for mobile-phone chips.