(InfoWorld Daily via NewsEdge) Broadcom sued Qualcomm, claiming the company abused at least three standards bodies in a bid to get its patented technology into industry specifications and license it unfairly.
Qualcomm put paid representatives in groups that set standards and pushed to get its own technology into those standards without informing the organizations as it was required to do, Broadcom alleged.
The suit involves the IEEE 802.20 mobile broadband specification, the H.264 video standard, and the UMTS specification for 3G mobile data. Broadcom may bring in charges about other standards as it learns more about Qualcomm's actions, said David Rosmann, VP for intellectual property litigation at Broadcom.
Qualcomm had not seen the complaint and was unable to comment, according to a written statement.
Broadcom is seeking monetary damages as well as injunctions to keep Qualcomm from asserting its patents in the standards and to force a stop to the company's practices, Rosmann said.
Qualcomm's actions regarding H.264 came out through Broadcom's defense against a patent suit by Qualcomm, Rosmann said. Last month, a jury in that case ruled that Qualcomm failed to disclose two patents to the joint video team standards group even though it had a clear duty to do so. Qualcomm said it did not violate the group's written policy on intellectual policy.
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