Judge dismisses Broadcom suit

Mobile phone chip maker Qualcomm Inc. won the dismissal of a Broadcom Corp. lawsuit accusing the San Diego company of improperly using its wireless-technology patents to suppress competition.

A federal judge’s ruling made public Monday said Broadcom failed to properly claim that Qualcomm’s patent rights were exhausted by its licensing of handset manufacturers. The Irvine company alleged that by collecting royalties from chip makers, Qualcomm was getting paid twice for the same patents.

Broadcom’s suit, filed in October, sought to block Qualcomm from charging royalties on the disputed patents.