Broadcom asks White House to let ITC ruling stand

It looks like Broadcom (NSDQ: BRCM) is hedging their bets and asking President Bush to let the ITC ruling stand. The ITC ruled that all phones manufactured using Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM)’s 3G chips will be banned from US import.

Broadcom tried to bully Qualcomm into settling for $6 for each mobile phone that Qualcomm sold – twisting Qualcomm’s arm with the ITC ban. And, after being turned down by the chip-maker, Broadcom apparently sent a letter directly to the White House today. The appeal comes after Qualcomm and other mobile phone vendors asked the President to overturn the ruling.

Broadcom stated that “A presidential veto [of the ITC ruling] would weaken U.S. efforts to strengthen intellectual property rights globally,” adding that, “Overturning the ITC’s remedy for Qualcomm’s patent infringement would ultimately make it more difficult for U.S. companies to defend their IP rights and complicate the Administration’s IP policy initiatives.”

President Bush has designated ITC representative Susan Schwab, who is more knowledgeable in these matters (in fact, she’s probably more knowledgeable than Bush in anything – as are we), to review the issue and make a decision on the White House’s behalf. The window to overturn the ITC ban ends on August 6th – 60 days from the ITC’s initial ruling.

Is anyone else getting tired of this? We know that it will eventually get worked out – there’s no way that 3G phones can be banned from the US forever. Seriously, can’t Broadcom and Qualcomm stop these playground shenanigans?

[Via: EETimes]