Qualcomm slapped for violating Broadcom ban

Sue Marek — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:22:40 -0400

The Qualcomm, Broadcom patent saga continues. Yesterday a Santa Ana, Calif., federal judge ruled Qualcomm violated an injunction on the use of Broadcom patents and he ordered the company to pay royalties on certain QChat push-to-talk revenue.

In the ruling, U.S. District Judge James Selna said there was "clear and convincing evidence" that Qualcomm was in contempt of a Dec. 31 order that he issued to prevent the company from infringing on three Broadcom patents. In May 2007 a jury found Qualcomm had infringed on the three Broadcom patents and it awarded $19.64 million in damages for past infringement in the case.

Qualcomm says it has already moved to a new version of the QChat software and wireless phones that no longer infringe on the patents. However, the company would not say how many wireless phones would be affected by the judge's order, nor would it provide an estimate of how much money the company owed to Broadcom for the profits from its QChat product line.

For more:
See this article

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Sprint adds 4 new PTT phones

Sue Marek — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:55:15 -0400

Sprint Nextel will launch four new Direct Connect phones in about 47 markets on June 15. The phones will be powered by Qualcomm's QChat next-generation push-to-talk technology that uses Sprint's EV-DO Rev. A network. The phones offer new features such as Call Alerts (a repeating alert that lets users notify another user that they are trying to reach them) and Group Connect, which lets customers quickly connect to up to 20 other Direct Connect users at once.

The new Direct Connect phones include the LX400 by LG, the Sanyo Pro-200 and Pro-700 and the Samsung Z400, which is the first Direct Connect phone offered by the handset maker. The phones range in price from $50 (with a two-year agreement and a $50 rebate) to $80 (with a two-year agreement and a $50 rebate).

The new Direct Connect handsets are critical to Sprint, which has been losing iDEN customers in droves. The firm hopes that the new QChat technology and handsets will prevent more customers from leaving the carrier.

For more:
- see this press release

Related stories:
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Will QChat Save Sprint?
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Qchat

Qualcomm slapped for violating Broadcom ban

Sprint adds 4 new PTT phones