A federal jury ruled that Qualcomm willfully infringed on three patents owned by Broadcom and must pay the company $19.6 million in damages. Since the infringement was willful, the judge could increase the damages by as much as three-fold, or to $58.8 million.
"We continue to believe that none of the Broadcom patent claims are valid
or were infringed by QUALCOMM, and we will challenge the jury's findings of
infringement, validity and willfulness in post-trial motions and on appeal if
necessary," said Lou Lupin, executive vice president and general counsel,
Qualcomm.
Qualcomm also stated in a press release that each of the three patents the jury found it guilty of infringing upon were bought by Broadcom from third parties, and "none of the patents Broadcom litigated at trial were inventions developed specifically in connection with cellular technology or standards."
Broadcom stated in a release: "We are very pleased with the jury's verdict, and gratified that the jurors were able to absorb and evaluate very technical material and arrive at the conclusion that Qualcomm once again is improperly utilizing our patented technology covering cellular baseband solutions," said David A. Dull, Broadcom's Senior Vice President and General Counsel. "Broadcom was an early pioneer in a broad range of wired and wireless communications and multimedia technologies."
Qualcomm will fight the jury's findings in the post-trial proceedings and, if necessary, file an appeal.
For more on the Qualcomm-Broadcom suit:
- see this press release from Qualcomm
- read this press release from Broadcom