Texas Instruments Prevails in Patent Suit

A patent lawsuit that

Qualcomm

(QCOM) - Get Report

filed against

Texas Instruments

(TXN) - Get Report

over a year ago has been resolved with a Delaware court finding in TI's favor.

Qualcomm spokeswoman Christine Trimble said Qualcomm is "disappointed" with the ruling and plans to appeal.

In the suit, filed in July 2003,

Qualcomm had accused TI of spilling confidential details of a patent agreement the two wireless chipmakers signed in 2000. Qualcomm told the court it wanted to invalidate TI's rights under the agreement, which was intended to let both companies sell chips for all wireless standards.

Perhaps not coincidentally, Qualcomm undertook legal action shortly after TI announced it would begin competing in Qualcomm's core market for CDMA chipsets. Many analysts viewed the move as an effort to stymie TI's efforts, though Qualcomm denied it.

Qualcomm initially sought to win damages for the alleged infraction, but it dropped that request in August after a July court ruling that also favored TI.

Lehman Brothers analyst Tim Luke said in a Wednesday morning note that the resolution of the dispute is positive for TI, since it will continue to be able to use Qualcomm's CDMA patents and won't have to pay Qualcomm damages, attorneys' fees or other lawsuit costs. The ruling won't have any material impact on Qualcomm, he added.

"We're grateful for the court's ruling and are pleased to conclude the trial on this note," said TI general counsel Joseph Hubach.

In recent trading, Qualcomm was up 18 cents, or 0.4%, to $41.37, while Texas Instruments was up 17 cents, or 0.7%, to $23.