Clock ticking for ITC to justify Qualcomm chip ban
It seems the feds agree with us that a broad, sweeping ban on little morsels of 3G goodness is just flat-out uncool. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has turned the proverbial hourglass upside down, giving the US International Trade Commission two weeks to justify its partial halt on the import of devices equipped with 3G chipsets manufactured by Qualcomm. The spat originates over a Broadcom claim that Qualcomm's silicon infringes on its patents, and the court system is interested in hearing why the USITC thinks the ban should remain in place while Qualcomm appeals. Intellectual property issues aside, the ITC's cold-turkey ban stands to have a significant impact on carriers, handset manufacturers, and customers (that's us, by the way) as the selection suddenly dries up -- so at the very least, we're hoping everyone affected has a little more time to get their ducks in a row while the patent suit navigates the legal system (please?).
Filed under: Misc
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Scott Hirleman @ Jun 14th 2007 8:48AM
There is a ban on Qualcomm phones. Samsung and LG use Qualcomm for 3G but Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, and HTC (along with many others) don't. Nokia, HTC, and Sony Ericsson all use Texas Instruments solutions while Motorola uses Freescale. Hell, even if the iPhone were 3G, it would be okay because it uses a Samsung processor (I think).
kopas @ Jun 14th 2007 12:16PM
From what I've read about the ban, it doesn't apply to smartphones. Which is partial good news for us gadget freaks.