Broadcom patent claim is revived

Qualcomm Inc. must face an additional claim of patent infringement made by Broadcom Corp. before the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington, an appeals court ruled Friday.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit revived a claim that had been thrown out, involving a patent for transmitting radio frequency signals, against one type of Qualcomm chip. The court upheld a finding by the commission that seven other types of chips didn’t use the technology and that none of the Qualcomm chips infringe a second Broadcom patent.

Pending before the appeals court is the issue of whether Qualcomm infringes a third Broadcom patent. In that case, the commission had ordered a ban on the import of certain handsets using Qualcomm chips. Qualcomm and the handset makers are challenging that decision.

Broadcom, based in Irvine, had claimed that Qualcomm violated three patents. The commission found in Qualcomm’s favor on two patents, for the signal transmission and a communication network. It was that part of the case that was the subject of Friday’s decision.

San Diego-based Qualcomm and Broadcom have been fighting in courts since Broadcom decided to expand into the phone market four years ago.

The revived case involves just one of eight models of Qualcomm chips that were part of the case. If infringement is found, the trade commission has the power to block imports of those chips and any products containing them.

The case decided Friday is one of four appeals before the Federal Circuit in Washington.

In addition to the import ban, Qualcomm is challenging an order that would block software used in walkie-talkie technology for Sprint Nextel Corp. and is seeking to reinstate its right to enforce patents for technology to transmit DVD-quality video over satellites.

A Qualcomm spokeswoman had no comment. Broadcom spokesman Bill Blanning said the company was pleased with the decision and looked “forward to the resumption of proceedings in the ITC.”