Broadcom under fire again
Qualcomm has filed a new complaint against Broadcom Corporation for “trade secret misappropriation and patent infringement”.
Broadcom is the target of two prior suits brought by Qualcomm, and was also one of hte vendors who officially complained in Autumn 2005 to the EU against “unfair” licensing terms. Qualcomm followed that complaint up with a suit against Nokia, although it said at the time the two were unconnected.
The new broadcom complaint charges Broadcom with misappropriating trade secrets relating to the development and marketing of WCDMA baseband integrated circuit products and the multimedia capabilities of such products. It alleges that Broadcom has used the misappropriated trade secrets to compete unfairly with Qualcomm for the sale of WCDMA chipsets. The complaint also accuses Broadcom of infringing a patent through its manufacture and sale of WCDMA and wireless local area network chipsets. The complaint seeks an injunction prohibiting Broadcom’s continued use ofthe disputed intellectual property.