Nokia takes Qualcomm to ITC

Nokia is taking a page from Broadcom’s book in its ongoing patent dispute with Qualcomm, taking its legal attacks outside of the federal courts and into the chambers of the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Broadcom succeeded in getting a ban on Qualcomm 3G chips imported into the U.S. using Broadcom technology, and now Nokia seeks the same. Today the Finnish phone maker filed a complaint with the ITC alleging Qualcomm’s CMDA and UMTS chips are infringing on five patents related to radio performance and efficiency as well as manufacturing techniques used to produce smaller, cheaper devices with low battery drain.

“There is significant evidence to warrant an ITC investigation into Qualcomm's business conduct,” Nokia chief financial officer Rick Simonson said in a statement. “We are taking this action to stop Qualcomm's practice of copying Nokia's patented technology, without permission, and making these innovations available to its chipset customers.”

In the Broadcom case, the ITC ruled that Qualcomm’s EV-DO and UMTS chips used technologies that violated three of Broadcom’s patents and granted Broadcom’s request to ban phones carrying those chips in the U.S. Broadcom also won a similar injunction in federal court, which awarded Broadcom $39.3 billion in damages and ordered Qualcomm to pay Broadcom’s legal fees. On Thursday, Qualcomm chairman Irwin Jacobs testified in court in Santa Ana, Calif., saying the injunction and fines would substantial hurt Qualcomm’s business. Qualcomm asked the judge to order a licensing agreement between Broadcom and Qualcomm with a royalty rate at 2%. Broadcom, however, wants the court to ban Qualcomm from making wideband CDMA chips, one of Qualcomm’s biggest growth segments, giving the company 18 months to quit the business or find a technology work around while paying a licensing fee of 6% to use Broadcom’s technology.

Nokia’s legal wrangles with Qualcomm go even further back than Broadcom’s, the two are locked in more than a dozen of patent and business practice disputes around the world, including multiple intellectual property lawsuits in the U.S.