Federal Court Enjoins Qualcomm's 3G Cellular and Push-to-Talk Products
Following Broadcom Patent Win
Infringing WCDMA and new EV-DO products enjoined outright; legacy EV-DO
products may ship for limited period with royalties paid to Broadcom
IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Broadcom Corporation
(Nasdaq: BRCM), 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,
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Broadcom(R), the pulse logo, Connecting everything(R) and the Connecting
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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
SOURCE Broadcom Corporation; BRCM Corporate
Investors, T. Peter Andrew, Vice President, Corporate Communications,
+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
