Qualcomm: No deal with Broadcom

Qualcomm said a settlement with rival vendor Broadcom is not likely given the potential impact on the CDMA innovator's licensing business. During its quarterly results announcement last week, Qualcomm said it would continue to defend itself against Broadcom's attempts to keep WCDMA and EV-DO handsets containing Qualcomm's chipsets out of the U.S.

The International Trade Commission (ITC) earlier this summer ruled in favor of Broadcom and issued a ban on the import of new cell phones made with Qualcomm 1xEV-DO and WCDMA chipsets [1]. The ITC said those chipsets infringe upon patents held by Broadcom.

Verizon has agreed to pay Broadcom [2] to use the disputed chip technology in its phones.

"Although Verizon announced it has entered into a license agreement with Broadcom eliminating the risk of not being able to import handsets using our chips for use in Verizon's network, a comprehensive settlement between us and Broadcom is unlikely given Broadcom's insistence on terms which could have a material impact on our licensing business," the company said.

The Bush administration has until Aug. 6 to veto the ITC's ruling or let it stand.

For more about Qualcomm's unwillingness to settle with Broadcom:
- read this article [3] from telecoms.com (sub. req.)
- take a look at this report [4] from Dow Jones