Qualcomm loses two rulings in patent case

Qualcomm Inc. lost two of three claims in a patent infringement ruling involving competitor Broadcom Corp., including a bid to lift a ban on the QChat push-to-talk technology Qualcomm licenses to Sprint Nextel Corp.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington on Wednesday upheld a lower court decision that Qualcomm had infringed a Broadcom patent on the technology. It affirmed an infringement finding on another Broadcom patent for a method used to allow mobile phones to operate on multiple wireless networks.

The court also overturned a jury verdict against San Diego-based Qualcomm that found it infringed a patent for video compression.

“We have continued to develop work-arounds related to the patents related to QChat,” Qualcomm attorney Alex Rogers said, adding that the company was reviewing the ruling and had been seeking technology that would allow it to continue operations.

Qualcomm, the world’s biggest maker of chips for mobile phones, and Broadcom have been fighting in courts since Irvine-based Broadcom decided to expand into the mobile phone market four years ago. The same appeals court said last week that Qualcomm must face another Broadcom patent case, reviving a claim involving a patent for transmitting radio-frequency signals.

In Wednesday’s ruling, the panel held that the lower court erred in defining the patent on video compression. The judges let stand the ban on the QChat technology partly developed by Qualcomm for use in Sprint software.

Qualcomm is allowed to continue to ship the product through January while paying Broadcom royalties, said David Rosmann, Broadcom’s vice president for intellectual property litigation. After January, Qualcomm will be barred from selling the technology.

Sprint, based in Overland Park, Kan., began selling QChat phones in June as part of a plan to lure customers from Verizon Wireless and AT&T; Inc., the biggest U.S. carrier, by offering handsets that also function as walkie-talkies. It developed the technology with the help of Qualcomm.

The appeals court sent the case back to the lower court for further proceedings, where the trial judge will adjust the $19.6-million damage award to reflect the claim that was thrown out.