Broadcom Gets Smaller Patent Win
Broadcom
(BRCM)
says it will accept a $19.6 million award for patent infringement damages and seek an injunction against
Qualcomm
(QCOM) - Get Report
chips that use a disputed 3G technology.
A federal judge cut the original $39.2 million award in half and gave Broadcom the option to seek a new trial or accept the award.
The news comes just two days after the U.S. International Trade Commission dropped a patent infringement lawsuit filed by
Nokia
(NOK) - Get Report
against Qualcomm. The ITC backed out of the case in light of the current binding arbitration between the two wireless tech shops.
In September, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit lifted a ban on Qualcomm chips that infringe on Broadcom patents. The ruling said the ban unfairly punished phone makers like
Motorola
(MOT)
,
Samsung
and
LG
, as well as telcos like
AT&T
(T) - Get Report
and
Verizon
(VZ) - Get Report
.
At its analysts day meeting earlier this month, Qualcomm says it has created so-called work-around solutions that would allow the phone companies to sell 3G phones while presumably not infringing on Broadcom patents.
Broadcom shares rose 59 cents to $27.73 and Qualcomm shares fell 26 cents to $40.20 in early trading Friday.