Qualcomm Loses Patent Battle

A federal judge has ordered Qualcomm to pull off the market special feature cellphone chips that infringe on three Broadcom patents. Qualcomm can keep selling some of the chips for the next 13 months if it pays royalties to Broadcom, reports the Wall Street Journal. The ruling is the latest in a series of court victories for Broadcom.

The two Southern California chip makers have been involved in a protracted legal battle after failing to agree on licensing each other's patents. A Broadcom spokesman said the company  was "very pleased" with the outcome, but warned that this is not the end of the legal battle. "We think it will go a long way toward stopping Qualcomm's continued infringement," he said. "We have additional cases that we will continue to move forward." (More Qualcomm stories.)