Texas Instruments Rebuts Qualcomm Suit

Texas Instruments Inc., whose microchips run half of the mobile telephones sold last year, said a patent lawsuit filed by Qualcomm Inc. that seeks to prevent the company from selling chips that use a key Qualcomm technology is “without merit.”

San Diego-based Qualcomm said in the suit filed Friday that Texas Instruments breached a December 2000 patent-sharing agreement. Dallas-based Texas Instruments said it would contest the suit.

Texas Instruments shares rose 12 cents to $19.17 on the NYSE. Shares of Qualcomm rose 77 cents to $38.62 on Nasdaq.