(Associated Press via NewsEdge) The chief executive of Broadcom urged a government panel to bar imports of cell phones that include chips made by Qualcomm Inc. that infringe on its patents.
Appearing before the US International Trade Commission, Scott McGregor and other Broadcom representatives said that such a ban would not hurt consumers, disrupt the wireless telecommunications market, or threaten public safety, as Qualcomm and its supporters have argued.
If the ITC grants Broadcom's request, 'things will continue just as they have, with the exception that a subset of cellular devices that contain infringing "&brkbar; chips would no longer be available to be imported into the United States,' McGregor said.
But Irwin Jacobs, Qualcomm's chief executive, strongly disagreed.
Barring the handsets would make it harder for consumers to access high-speed wireless networks used to download music and video, Jacobs said, and discourage further development of such networks.
Qualcomm and several government agencies have also argued in filings with the ITC that an import ban would harm public safety agencies that use wireless networks.
Broadcom is asking the ITC to block imports of mobile phones that contain Qualcomm chips using high-speed EV-DO and W-CDMA technologies.
Broadcom, however, argued that most infringing chips enter the US already incorporated into handsets made by companies such as Motorola and Samsung.
The ITC is considering the administrative law judge's recommended remedy as well as Broadcom's request.
© 2007 The Associated Press
© 2007 Dialog, a Thomson business. All rights reserved