JURIST - Paper Chase: Qualcomm and Broadcom settle patent infringement suit

[JURIST] Wireless communications company Qualcomm Inc. [corporate website] reached a settlement [press release] in a lengthy legal battle with rival firm Broadcom [corporate website], under which it will pay Broadcom $891 million. Under the terms of the settlement, the companies agree not to assert patents against each other for their respective integrated circuit products and certain other products and services, which include integrated circuit products incorporated into cellular and non-cellular products. The agreement dismisses with prejudice all litigation between the two companies and provides that:

Broadcom customers do not receive rights to any of Qualcomm's patents used in integrated circuit products incorporated into cellular products and equipment and Qualcomm will pay Broadcom $891 million in cash over a period of four years, of which $200 million will be paid in the quarter ending June 30, 2009. The agreement does not provide for any other scheduled payments between the parties.

Last month, a federal court dismissed [order, PDF; JURIST report] Broadcom's antitrust complaint against Qualcomm. Broadcom had filed the 2008 complaint following the Supreme Court's decision in Quanta v. LG Electronics [opinion, PDF; JURIST report], an antitrust case in which the Court held that the sale of a patent triggers exhaustion. That decision was only the latest in a long series of legal battles between the two corporations. In December, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit [official website] affirmed in part a holding against Qualcomm [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] on the basis of patent holdup. In September, the federal appeals court affirmed an injunction against Qualcomm [Reuters report] on the basis of their alleged infringement of two Broadcom patents.

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