Qualcomm Sues Nokia over CDMA Patents

[ruby]

Qualcomm filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Nokia, less than two weeks after Nokia and five other companies complained about Qualcomm's competitive practices to the European Commission. Qualcomm said it wanted Nokia to stop selling certain mobile phone products in the United States, and demanded unspecified monetary damages from Nokia.

Qualcomm general counsel Louis Lupin would not say if the company plans related lawsuits against other wireless firms. It already has broad agreements with Texas Instruments and is also discussing issues arising from its license agreement with Ericsson.

Qualcomm said Nokia has used some of its CDMA technology to improve networks based on GSM, so that they too could achieve faster speeds for data services, such as video calls and Internet downloads. Qualcomm said the Nokia lawsuit involves 11 Qualcomm patents and one belonging to its subsidiary, SnapTrack Inc.

Nokia said in its statement that Qualcomm had filed the suit without first negotiating or proposing any license terms to Nokia but Lupin said Qualcomm had been in discussions with Nokia long before the European Commission complaint. All mobile phone chip and handset makers need Qualcomm's CDMA technology for Wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA).

[ruby]

Nokia responded to Qualcomm's patent-infringement lawsuit as a thinly-veiled reprisal against Nokia and five other companies that claim Qualcomm has engaged in anti-competitive behavior.

Although Qualcomm said its lawsuit was the result of a breakdown in licensing negotiations, Nokia argued that there were no negotiations to begin with. Nokia said Qualcomm's lawsuit is further evidence that Qualcomm "continues to disregard its obligations to offer to license its alleged essential patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms."

Nokia's response follows Qualcomm's announcement that it filed suit against Nokia for infringing on 12 of its patents. Qualcomm's lawsuit against Nokia comes shortly after Nokia and five other wireless companies filed complaints with the European Commission, arguing that Qualcomm's W-CDMA licensing tactics are unfair.