Friday, 17 August 2007

Nokia, Qualcomm Fight Goes Ugly

The fight between Nokia and US company Qualcomm took ugly turn when the world’s largest mobile phone maker asked the US International Trade Commission (ITC) to block the import of some Qualcomm Inc chipsets alleging they infringed on five Nokia patents.

Nokia and Qualcomm have been in fight for more than two years. In fact Nokia, which also made CDMA phones, stopped manufacturing CDMA technology based phones as the rivalry between Nokia and the inventor of CDMA technology escalated.

"The patents in question relate to technologies that improve the performance and efficiency of wireless communication devices as well as enabling lower manufacturing costs, smaller product size and increased battery life," Nokia said.

Nokia said Qualcomm used Nokia's patents in certain GSM/WCDMA and CDMA2000 chipsets. "These technologies are important to Nokia's success as they allow its products to have competitive advantages over those of competitors," Nokia said.

A legal row ensued between the two companies after part of a cross-licensing deal over technology patents expired in April this year.

Broadcom too has been fighting legal battle with Qualcomm alleging its Qualcomm’s chip contains its patented technology. Broadcom too has urged the ITC to bar the import of CDMA phones.