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Qualcomm Blasts Broadcom Again

Scott Moritz

Qualcomm (QCOM Quote - Cramer on QCOM - Stock Picks) adds another lawsuit to its patent battle with rival Broadcom (BRCM Quote - Cramer on BRCM - Stock Picks).

The wireless technology standard bearer accuses Broadcom of stealing trade secrets and selling chips that infringe on one of Qualcomm's patents. The lawsuit is the third filed by Qualcomm in a San Diego federal court.

The legal skirmishes come amid a boom in wireless industry growth and reveal the highly competitive claims on which company controls some of the key underlying technologies.

In October, wireless giants Nokia (NOK Quote - Cramer on NOK - Stock Picks), Ericsson (ERICY Quote - Cramer on ERICY - Stock Picks) and Texas Instruments (TXN Quote - Cramer on TXN - Stock Picks) joined Broadcom in an antitrust complaint with the European Union against Qualcomm.

The group says that Qualcomm charges too much for licenses to its wideband code division multiple access or WCDMA technology, and that the high fees help drive up the costs of cell phones.

Qualcomm says it expects the first patent infringement trial against Broadcom to begin in January.

"We believe that Qualcomm's claims are meritless and are surprised that these latest claims were not brought to our attention before they ran to court," Broadcom says in a statement Wednesday. "Qualcomm's current and next generation cellular baseband and radio frequency products infringe on a number of our patents."

The patent slugfest comes as eBay's (EBAY Quote - Cramer on EBAY - Stock Picks) challenge to a patent setback at the hands of a closely held company called MercExchange is due to be heard by the Supreme Court.

Qualcomm shares rose $1.54 to $50.90 and Broadcom rose 97 cents to $43.30.