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Qualcomm banned from selling some chips
U.S. Appeals Court rules
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. has left in place a lower court order barring Qualcomm Inc. from selling chips that infringe on three Broadcom Corporation patents. The chips in question are third-generation, or 3G, WCDMA chips.
WCDMA mobile wireless technology provides much faster data speeds than are available with most North American networks. Qualcomm had asked the Court to allow it to continue selling the 3G WCDMA chips during its appeal, but the Court denied the request.
The Court also dismissed Sprint Nextel Corporation’s motion to intervene in the case. Sprint Nextel had wanted to add a walkie-talkie feature, known as OChat, which was covered by one of Broadcom’s patents in question.
Qualcomm indicated that the 3G chip injunction would hurt its short-term sales, but said that it will have alternatives in its phones that are not infringing before the end of this quarter.