Lou Lupin had been with the chipmaker since 1995 and resigned for personal reasons, according to the company. He has played a major role in the formation of Qualcomm’s successful technology licensing program and negotiation of key licensing agreements, said Qualcomm chief executive Paul Jacobs, in a press release.
The US International Trade Commission in June imposed an import ban on new-model cell phones containing 3G chips from Qualcomm. The federal regulator ruled that Qualcomm had infringed on patents held by Broadcom.
Qualcomm appealed the ruling to the Bush administration, but the President’s office upheld the ban last week.
Also, a federal judge last week denounced Qualcomm’s legal maneuvers in a separate patent-infringement case with Broadcom, which Qualcomm initiated in 2005. The judge said Qualcomm had deliberately concealed two of its own patents from an industry standard group and, therefore, waived its enforcement rights. While Qualcomm and Broadcom prepared for the trial of the case, Qualcomm engaged in constant stonewalling, concealment and repeated misrepresentations, said US district judge Rudi Brewster.
Lupin will be replaced by Carol Lam. Lam joined Qualcomm in February having previously served as a federal government prosecutor.
