Mobile Phone Industry's Patent Woes
Jun 11, 2007
Just days after the International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled in Broadcom's favor in one of its patent infrigement cases against Qualcomm, the Associated Press is reporting that Nokia has filed a countersuit against Qualcomm in yet another patent case.
The announcement that Nokia is countersuing Qualcomm is part of an ongoing patent dispute between the two companies that dates back to 2005. According to AP, "besides suing Nokia in Texas, Qualcomm has also charged the Finnish company with patent infringement in federal court in San Diego, before the U.S. International Trade Commission and in courts in Britain, France, Germany and Italy."
The ITC ruling in the Broadcom case, as described by The Financial Times, calls for a ban on importation of new 3G phones that use Qualcomm chips (phones not yet available for sale in the U.S.). The ban is a blow not only to Qualcomm but to LG and Samsung who manufacture handsets with Qualcomm chips and to telecom providers like AT&T and T-Mobile who planned to sell the phones. In fact, those companies have joined Qualcomm in petitioning for a lift on the ban.
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