The ongoing patent fight between Qualcomm and Broadcom rages on as the U.S. International Trade Commission announced it was extending its deadline for deciding damages in the patent skirmish. The ITC was expected to decide on Friday what action, if any, Qualcomm had to take, but has extended its deadline to June 7. At stake is a total ban on handsets that incorporate EV-DO chipsets made by Qualcomm. These chips, argues Broadcom, infringe on one of Broadcom's patents. In October, an administration-law judge said the ban was too excessive a punishment. But the ITC doesn't have to follow the judge's recommendation and could ban all EV-DO phones or issue a partial ban. The administrative-law judge had also concluded that Qualcomm illegally used a Broadcom patent that covers how a cell phone conserves power when it is out of range of a radio-frequency signal. Qualcomm said the patent is irrelevant.
To read more about the ITC's potential ban on Qualcomm phones:
- check out this article from The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)