The International Trade Commission Thurs. voted to bar the import...
The International Trade Commission Thurs. voted to bar the importation of Qualcomm chipsets and circuit board modules or carriers containing them, on grounds that they infringe Broadcom patents. But in a partial win for Qualcomm and U.S. carriers concerned…
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about the effect on the rollout of 3G networks, the ITC said it will keep allowing devices based on models imported into the U.S. through Thurs. “The Commission found that an order excluding all downstream products would impose great burdens on third parties, given the limited availability of alternative downstream products not containing the infringing chips,” the ITC said: “The Commission determined that barring importation of downstream products, with an exemption for certain previously imported models, will substantially reduce the burdens imposed on third parties while affording meaningful relief to the patent holder.” An ITC judge last year sided with Broadcom and recommended an outright ban. In March, the ITC held an unusual 2-day hearing to take testimony on a remedy. Public safety groups and wireless industry players testified in Qualcomm’s behalf, citing harms of a ban. During a panel discussion Thurs. at the Broadband Summit, Kathleen Ham, managing dir. of regulatory affairs for T-Mobile, said a ban would have been very bad for carriers, since much of their equipment contains Qualcomm chips. “We're a little behind in terms of launching UMTS,” she said: “To do that, we need handsets. We're watching this case very closely.” Said Stifel Nicolaus: “Our preliminary assessment is that this is bad news for Qualcomm and its wireless carrier customers, because they revise and turn over their handset models rapidly.”