Qualcomm Inc (QCOM)

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Qualcomm seeks to ban some Nokia phones from U.S.
By Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service, 07/10/06

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2006/071106-qualcomm-seeks-to-ban-some.html

Qualcomm gained an ally in its long running patent battle with Nokia, as the U.S. International Trade Commission began investigating the Finnish company for alleged unfair trade practices in importing and selling products that infringe on Qualcomm patents.


Qualcomm has requested that the regulator ban the sale or import of Nokia handsets, components, and other wireless products that allegedly infringe on six Qualcomm patents, the company said Monday in a statement.

Qualcomm, the leading developer of CDMA wireless technologies, has also requested that the ITC bar Nokia from marketing, advertising, demonstrating, warehousing, using or selling in the U.S. any product that infringes on its patents.

The patents in question are all related to GSM, GPRS and EDGE (Global System for Mobile/General Packet Radio Service/Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) technologies, Qualcomm said.

Thomas Jönsson, director of communications for Nokia in China, declined to immediately comment.

The announcement raises the stakes in a wide-ranging legal battle between Nokia and Qualcomm that erupted over terms of their licensing agreements. Late last year, Qualcomm raised the patent issue with a number of mobile phone vendors, riling existing and potential customers. The company is already suing Nokia in U.S. and U.K. courts, and Qualcomm suffered a blow late last year when six companies filed complaints to the European Commission charging it with anticompetitive behavior.

Qualcomm's CDMA technology is different from technologies based on GSM, which is a European standard, but Qualcomm claims many GSM-based technologies have been developed to the point where they now infringe on its patents. The company has for years licensed its technology to companies such as Nokia in return for fees and permission to use their technology. But the system broke down when a number of companies balked at paying fees they say are too high.

Qualcomm insists its licensing terms are fair, it said in the statement.

The company expects an initial determination from the ITC in the first half of 2007.