The battle between Qualcomm and Broadcom over patented mobile chipset technology has been going for so long it’s hard to muster any more than passing interest in the legal back-and-forth between the two chipmaking giants. Today, we may have just seen the final chapter of this story unfold in a US Appeals Court.
Following on previous rulings that that barred Qualcomm from selling certain mobile chips in the US, Qualcomm took the case to an Appeals court seeking to have the court-ordered injunction lifted. The good news, for Qualcomm, is that one of the three patents in question was found invalid and was thrown out. The US Appeals Court ruled, however, that Qualcomm had infringed on the remaining two patents and has been ordered to pay royalties to Broadcom during the “sunset period” ending January 31, 2009.
So, with Broadcom coming out on top and finally winning royalty payments from Qualcomm, the battle between the chipmakers may just have come to a close. The clear winner here is Broadcom, which will likely see millions of Qualcomm’s dollars filling its corporate coffers.
Keep your head up, Qualcomm. It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game. Right?
[Via: Reuters]