Broadcom Sued Over Defaulted Payments

Broadcom Corp. has been sued by a major customer, 3Com Corp., which accused the Irvine chip maker of defaulting on two quarterly interest payments on a $21-million promissory note.

3Com issued the note Dec. 4, after the companies agreed to jointly develop, sell and market network-interface cards based on the Gigabit Ethernet data standard. Gigabit Ethernet cards connect computers on a network 10 to 100 times faster than the previous generation of cards, which are typically used in most offices.

Broadcom supplies components to Santa Clara-based 3Com to make networking equipment. 3Com expected interest payments of $313,782 on April 1 and $244,053 on July 1 from Broadcom, the lawsuit said.

As a result of the missed payments, Broadcom owes more than $21 million, according to the complaint, which was filed Tuesday in Santa Clara Superior Court.

3Com is asking a judge to order Broadcom to pay the note and interest.