A federal judge has found that Qualcomm waived its rights to enforce two patents on compressing video signals because it deliberately concealed them from an industry standard-setting group, an Associated Press report said.
The Associated Press report said the company's behavior suggests 'extremely foul play' and exposes 'a carefully orchestrated plan and the deadly determination of Qualcomm to achieve its goal of holding hostage the entire industry' that would use the H.264 video compression standard, according to US District Judge Rudi Brewster.
The ruling came in one of several patent disputes between chipmakers Qualcomm and Broadcom.
Qualcomm initiated the case, suing Broadcom in October 2005 on claims that its rival violated patents on technology that is used to compress video signals in DVD players, digital televisions and music players. Qualcomm lost at trial.
The Associated Press report also quoted the judge as saying that Qualcomm worked actively on the Joint Video Team standards-setting body as early as January 2002, undermining the company's claims that it did not participate until after the panel released the H.264 standard in May 2003.
By concealing its patents, Qualcomm deprived other companies of a chance to reduce or avoid their dependence on them.