Nokia calls for ban on Qualcomm 3G chips
updated 09:55 am EDT, Fri August 17, 2007
Nokia Wants Qualcomm Ban
Nokia today demanded that the US International Trade Commission ban imports of certain 3G cellular chipsets made by Qualcomm, arguing that the semiconductor firm is violating five Nokia patents. The cellphone maker claimed that certain Qualcomm cellular chipsets capable of EVDO and HSDPA were hurting its business by effectively copying techniques that helped Nokia increase the power efficiency of its own chipsets, taking away a key competitive advantage of the company in the US. The response is justified since Qualcomm itself has sought out similar bans against Nokia products in other countries, the announcement said.
The request may compound Qualcomm's already existing troubles with the ITC. The chipset producer has already seen an initial ban, triggered by a victory by Broadcom in a patent dispute, survive initial challenges in court and a presidential review. The existing ban is set to block numerous unreleased phones across most US carriers and would have blocked 80 percent of Verizon's phone updates without a special license from Broadcom.
Nokia currently sells over a third of all cellphones in the world but has lately struggled in the US, where the adoption of smartphones is slower and typically swings towards rival phones from BlackBerry creator Research in Motion and Palm's Treo series.
