|
Broadcom Sues Qualcomm
By David Utter
Expert Author
Article Date: 2005-07-05
A suit filed in the US District Court of New Jersey alleges antitrust practices by Qualcomm in the CDMA space.
The technology might be fairly recent, but the lawsuit is strictly old school. Chip maker Braodcom says it wants compensation and a permanent injunction against Qualcomm due to its technology license practices.
Broadcom, through its lawyers, says Qualcomm offers better terms for its technology licenses to buyers of its W-CDMA chips. Users of competitor chips pay more for those licenses.
W-CDMA chips will start appearing in cellphones in the United States soon. It will allow for those phones to take advantage of 3G wireless services.
"They're using the licensing terms to their advantage in the sale of chipsets," said George Cary of the law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, representing Broadcom.
He added that Qualcomm "has tried to cover up this by insisting on nondisclosure terms to anybody who asks for a license."
"We're looking into the complaint and believe it's without merit," said a Qualcomm spokesperson, Emily Kilpatrick.
About the Author:
David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.
|
|
