The patents are allegedly essential to the manufacture or use of equipment that complies with the GSM, GPRS and EDGE cellular standards and to certain interoperability standards for wireless local area networks,’ according to Qualcom’s lawsuit.
Qualcomm seeks unspecified monetary damages and an injunction against Broadcom making and selling its products that allegedly infringe on its patents.
Increasingly, the companies are fighting a legal, as well as market share, battle.
Last week, Broadcom filed an antitrust lawsuit against Qualcomm that alleged Qualcomm’s licensing in cellular products and technologies stifled competition and violated antitrust laws.
Qualcomm countersued, claiming that its licensing and marketing was not monopolistic or discriminatory and that Broadcom’s case had no merit.
And in May, Broadcom filed a lawsuit claiming Qualcomm’s current and next-generation cellular baseband and radio frequency product lines infringe on 10 Broadcom patents.
In the latest legal spat, Qualcomm claims Broadcom’s integrated circuits for GSM devices infringed on its patents essential to the GSM standards.
Qualcomm said a number of Broadcom’s major product lines allegedly infringe Qualcomm’s patents.
Those who believe that Qualcomm’s intellectual property portfolio is limited to CDMA have overlooked the breadth of our business activity and the extent of our R&D from which our intellectual property is generated, said Louis Lupin, Qualcomm general counsel, in a statement.
Our intellectual property rights are broad, and we will not hesitate to assert their full breadth when appropriate, he said.
