Patent Infringement Bans Imports Of New Cell Phones

June 8, 2007 – 9:51 am

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Recently a Federal Agency decided to ban the import of mobile phones that have a Qualcomm semi-conductor due to patent infringements against Broadcom Corporation.

The ban wouldn’t affect mobile phones that are currently being imported into the United States, but could delay newer models, such as the RAZR 2, from being made available to American consumers.

The costs associated with this ban could be passed along to the end user to help absorb the cost of switching to a different technology.

Qualcomm will immediately ask a federal court to prevent the ban from taking effect and ask President Bush to veto the order, since this ban could prevent tens of millions of cell phones from being imported and sold in the US.

“This is a bad order for the industry, and it’s going to freeze innovation,” Verizon wireless spokeswoman Nancy Stark said. “We were never accused of infringing on anything yet we’re being punished.”

The patent in question is a technology that helps conserve battery power when a cell phone is out of range of a wireless network.

Last week a federal jury in California ruled that certain Qualcomm chips and software infringed three Broadcom patents, and it awarded Broadcom $19.6 million in damages.

The White House has 60 days to revoke the ruling, so it will be interesting to see what happens next. Can you say settlement?

Yahoo

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