SAN DIEGO -- July 20, 1999 -- Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM) today filed a lawsuit seeking a judicial determination that Qualcomm has the right to terminate all licenses granted to Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) under a 1990 Patent License Agreement signed by the parties, while retaining all licenses granted by Motorola to Qualcomm under the same agreement.
Qualcomm's complaint was filed in San Diego in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California where a number of earlier actions between the parties relating to the Patent License Agreement have been pending for more than two years. The complaint alleges that Motorola has committed breaches of the Patent License Agreement that include pursuing a lawsuit against Qualcomm for infringement of patents that are in fact licensed to Qualcomm under the agreement. Qualcomm's new filing also seeks a ruling that upon termination of the Patent License Agreement, the patents formerly licensed to Motorola would be infringed by Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) handsets and network infrastructure equipment made and sold by Motorola.
The litigation between Qualcomm and Motorola began in March 1997 in response to allegations by Motorola that Qualcomm's then recently announced Q™ phone infringed design and utility patents held by Motorola. In April 1997, the federal court in San Diego denied Motorola's motion for a preliminary injunction, thereby permitting Qualcomm to continue to manufacture, market and sell the Q phone. In January 1998, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the lower court's decision not to enjoin Qualcomm from manufacturing and selling the Q phone. The litigation eventually expanded to include several consolidated cases for patent and trade dress infringement and Qualcomm's claims for breach of the Patent License Agreement and unfair competition. The consolidated cases are presently set for a final pretrial conference in December 1999.
Qualcomm Incorporated (www.qualcomm.com) is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on the Company's CDMA digital technology. The Company's major business areas include CDMA phones; integrated CDMA chipsets and system software; technology licensing; and satellite-based systems including OmniTRACS® and portions of the Globalstar™ system. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Qualcomm is a FORTUNE 500® company traded on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol QCOM.
Qualcomm and OmniTRACS are registered trademarks and the Q logo is a trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. Globalstar is a trademark of Loral Qualcomm Satellite Services, Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective manufacturers.
