54.3 F
San Diego
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
-Advertisement-

Qualcomm Rolls Out Two-Pronged Challenge to Chip Ban

Qualcomm Inc., which makes chips for much of the U.S. cell phone market, said June 7 it is asking President Bush to veto a federal decision made that same day to ban the importation of wireless devices that contain some types of new Qualcomm chips.

The U.S. International Trade Commission previously determined that some imported Qualcomm chips are in violation of federal law because they infringed a U.S. patent held by another large chipmaker, Irvine-based Broadcom Corp.

The ban does not affect devices that were already being imported before the decision. Therefore, said Lawrence Harris, a New York analyst who covers Qualcomm for Oppenheimer & Co., the products that the ban affects weren’t being imported yet.

“No one is losing money yet,” Harris said June 8.

Investors are showing faith that the appeal will be successful , Qualcomm stock continued to gain value the day after the decision, trading up 78 cents, or nearly 2 percent at $41.78. The day of the announcement, the stock lost about 3 percent, but gained it back in after-hours trading.

Verizon and Sprint could be impacted by the ITC decision more than companies like AT & T;, which has more phone models that operate without Qualcomm’s chips, Harris said.

In addition to asking the president to veto the ITC decision, Qualcomm said it will ask the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to delay the ITC order. Qualcomm maintains that Broadcom’s patent is invalid and not infringed. The two companies have been entangled in a legal battle with each other for several years over multiple patents.

A Qualcomm press statement said the ITC decision, “does not protect the public interest or public safety” and said that Broadcom “used litigation as a vehicle to attack the U.S. cellular industry.”

, Katie Weeks

-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-