Qualcomm in more legal trouble with Broadcom – Broadcom wants cross-licensing deal

And the battle continues. Broadcom (NSDQ: BRCM), not satisfied with their crippling victory over Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM) in the US ITC ban of Qualcomm’s 3G chipsets, bringing more legal fuel to the patent fire that’s already burning under Qualcomm’s feet. MocoNews reports that, “Qualcomm and Broadcom are back in the court room arguing over another set of Broadcom patents, covering video compression for mobile phones, walkie-talkie style wireless technology, and simultaneous communication between different types of networks.” Apparently, the patent battle over chips is still going strong.

Broadcom is proposing an 18 month phase out of the technology to “prevent disruption of mobile phone supplies” and will exclude EVDO chips if Qualcomm agrees to a 6% licensing fee. Broadcom is seeking a cross-licensing agreement, according to AP. And, Reuters is reporting that Qualcomm even offered a “significant royalty” to Broadcom for the right to use the disputed technology. So, it seems that Broadcom is trying to squeeze a cross-licensing agreement from Qualcomm to secure its position in the global chipset market.

Frankly, we’re getting a bit tired of all this juvenile patent battling between these two chip-making giants. Is it Qualcomm’s fault? Broadcom’s? Who cares, they both need to start playing nice and get along. But, it looks like the rivalry is fairly established, so making nice might not be in the books anymore. Qualcomm had better get a really good lawyer, seeing as how their last one bailed on them.

[Via: MocoNews]