Broadcom Wants Qualcomm Chips Banned

What’s with all this corporate angst recently? Patent infringement seems to be on everyone’s mind these days. Take Broadcom (NSDQ: BRCM) for example. The Broadcom top exec. Scott McGregor pleaded for the US International Trade Commission to ban imports of cellphones with Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM) chips. The issue at hand? What else, another case of patent infringement.

Apparently, the Qualcomm chips that help high-speed enabled mobile phones to conserve battery power are using technology patented by Broadcom. But a simple ban on the Qualcomm chips is not a satisfactory solution, at least according to Broadcom, as the chips are mostly imported as an integrated solution in mobile phones. The chips are implemented on CDMA platforms using WCDMA or EVDO for broadband wireless connection. Because of this, Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Wireless and Sprint (NYSE: S) Nextel have jumped into the ring and will testify against Broadcom. They will argue that the sheer size of the networks that will be affected by this ban will cripple communication and government response to emergencies. Of course, McGregor and Co. will swear otherwise. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens (read: how much money will exchange hands in the settlement).