Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM) today stated that Broadcom's press release of February 12, 2007 related to a partial summary judgment ruling by a federal court in San Diego is misleading. In a hearing held last month, the court ruled that to the extent Qualcomm asserted an indirect infringement claim against Broadcom and Broadcom sells an accused device to Panasonic or Samsung, both of which are Qualcomm licensees, Broadcom cannot be accused of indirect infringement for those sales. Indirect infringement can occur when an accused infringer's acts alone do not infringe all the elements of a particular patent claim but when combined with the acts of another unlicensed company meet all the necessary elements for infringement. However, the judge's ruling does not protect Broadcom from direct infringement of which Broadcom stands accused in the case.
“Broadcom's assertions that this ruling 'clears the way for cellular handset makers Samsung and Panasonic to continue using Broadcom's chips in WCDMA-based handsets,' is false and misleading,” said Lou Lupin, executive vice president and general counsel, Qualcomm. “While this particular case centers primarily on infringement by Broadcom's GSM/GPRS/EDGE products, we intend to prove that the Broadcom WCDMA chip at issue in the case directly infringes our patent. Although Broadcom has sold only a very few WCDMA chips, and therefore Qualcomm has not focused its patent infringement cases on those products, there is nothing in the court's ruling that precludes Qualcomm from continuing with its current direct infringement claims or from enforcing our many other WCDMA patents against Broadcom. Likewise, there is nothing in either Samsung's or Panasonic's licenses with Qualcomm that would insulate Broadcom's WCDMA products from claims of direct infringement.”
Qualcomm Incorporated (www.qualcomm.com) is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on CDMA and other advanced technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Qualcomm is included in the S&P 500 Index and is a 2006 FORTUNE 500® company traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market® under the ticker symbol QCOM.
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