Texas Instruments Sues Qualcomm

Texas Instruments Inc., the world’s biggest maker of chips that run mobile phones, sued Qualcomm Inc., saying the company broke a contract by giving discounts to cell phone makers that agree to use Qualcomm’s chips exclusively.

The company is asking the Delaware Chancery Court to force Qualcomm to adhere to a licensing deal with Texas Instruments and to stop Qualcomm from making false or misleading statements about the agreement, Texas Instruments said in a statement.

Qualcomm sued Texas Instruments in Delaware Superior Court in July, claiming the company had broken their patent-sharing agreement, signed in December 2000.

Qualcomm hasn’t seen the complaint and has no immediate comment, spokeswoman Christine Trimble said.

Shares of Dallas-based Texas Instruments rose 66 cents to $24.11 on the New York Stock Exchange. San Diego-based Qualcomm fell 16 cents to $44.78 on Nasdaq.

From Bloomberg News