Broadcom says Qualcomm's workaround still infringes on patent

by Chris Ziegler posted Dec 23rd 2007 at 11:04AM

So part of the deal of Qualcomm's nearly $20 million settlement with Broadcom over ongoing patent concerns was that Broadcom would continue to work on getting an injunction against offending products. Qualcomm tried to -- or at least claimed that it was trying to -- whip up a "workaround" that would allow it to continue to serve up chipsets that sidestepped Broadcom's intellectual property. Turns out that Broadcom thinks the supposed workaround is a bunch of hooey, though, and has gone back to the US International Trade Commission with its claim. The ITC in turn has referred the case to an administrative law judge for handling, which means that this thing could be dragging out for a little while yet. There's no telling what'll ultimately become of these chipsets or the future of Qualcomm's product roadmap after it plays out, but Verizon's got to be thinking that its decision to cough up cash on its own behalf is paying for itself over and over again right about now.