Broadcom vs Qualcomm

The ongoing legal battle between microchip manufacturers Qualcomm and Broadcom continued to boil over this week, with the clock now ticking on a potential presidential veto that may prove crucial to the case. Is this a feud cell phone users should be paying attention to?

In June, the U.S. International Trade Commission imposed a ban on all new cell phone models containing Qualcomm-designed chips; the ruling was an affirmation of Broadcom’s claim that the Qualcomm chips infringe on a particular patent covering a next-generation microchip that powers high speed Internet access, music, and 3D games without exhausting batteries at an untenable rate. The ruling, as it stands, pertains only to “new� models, meaning any current cell phone with a Qualcomm chip is perfectly legal – a compromise Broadcom doesn’t particularly care for.

To throw another complication into the mix, President Bush has until August 6 to veto the ITC’s ruling and lift the ban entirely.

Put simply, it breaks down like this: Broadcom thinks the ban should be more strenuously enforced, so they’re not happy; Qualcomm thinks the ban stunts the development of new phones, thereby decreasing customer choice and harming the market. They’re not happy either.

The ruling has the potential to eventually eliminate Qualcomm chips in the United States – chips found in many of the latest cell phone models, covering a wide swath of manufacturers and all the major U.S. carriers. In response to that, Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, AT&T and T-Mobile have joined Qualcomm to protest the ban.

One would think that a settlement may be in order, as is often the case with high-profile patent law-suits. Indeed, Broadcom has offered to license the patent to Qualcomm for $6 a chip. Qualcomm, so far, has refused the offer, and says it is working with Sprint on a “work-around.�

In the end, how will this affect the end user? For the time being, there’s no shortage of Qualcomm chips entering the market inside high-end cell phones. And, given the heavyweights lobbying hard for a presidential veto, it seems doubtful that the Qualcomm chip will ever face extinction. So, bet on a resolution. As the August 6 deadline approaches, it will be interesting to follow whether that resolution is political, legal, or some combination thereof.