Judge doubles Broadcom award in Qualcomm lawsuit

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. district court judge tentatively doubled on Friday Broadcom Corp.'s (BRCM.O) $19.64 million damages award against Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM.O), the latest step in a patent infringement case between the chip suppliers.

The decision was the latest in a series of legal setbacks against Qualcomm, which is embroiled in several legal battles with Broadcom and other companies.

In late May, a federal jury told Qualcomm to pay Broadcom for infringing three Broadcom patents.

Factors that led to the doubling included the duration of Qualcomm's infringement and its decision not to stop manufacturing or selling infringing products during the course of the lawsuit, wrote James Selna, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

"The court finds that, on balance, the totality of the circumstances merits an increase in the damages award," Selna wrote.

He noted that there was no evidence that Qualcomm deliberately copied any Broadcom patents or products, and that there was no allegation that Qualcomm had a motivation to harm Broadcom.

"There is a spectrum of improper conduct for determining the amount to award," he wrote. "That Qualcomm's conduct was not at the most egregious end of the spectrum does not mean that no enhanced award is due."

A Qualcomm official was not immediately available for comment.

The court is scheduled to hold a hearing on Tuesday concerning Broadcom's request for a permanent injunction against Qualcomm related to the patents that were infringed upon.

Selna also granted Broadcom's motion for Qualcomm to pay for Broadcom's attorneys' fees.

In late May a federal jury had told Qualcomm to pay Broadcom $19.6 million in damages for infringing three Broadcom patents.

One of the patents in the case relates to wireless video processing, while another relates to how calls are handed over to networks with different technologies. The third relates to walkie-talkie style cell phone features.

In another patent infringement case between Broadcom and Qualcomm, the U.S. International Trade Commission on June 7 banned the U.S. sale of some phones using Qualcomm chips found to infringe a Broadcom patent.

Earlier this week, the Bush administration said it would uphold the ban after a 60-day review of the decision.

Qualcomm is also involved in a bitter legal dispute with Finland's Nokia (NOK1V.HE), the world's biggest mobile phone maker, after they failed to reach an agreement before their technology license agreement expired early in April.