SUMMARY OF Chapter 4:
Three topics are discussed in this chapter.
First, litigation may occur either in court, or at an administrative body such as the United States International Trade Commission (“ITC”). There are differences between court litigation and ITC litigation. Some of these differences are explained.
Second, two cases are presented in which patent owners won ITC litigations. Why did the companies win? What made the patents “good”?
Third, five additional cases of ITC litigation are presented, but only in brief. Each additional case is focused on a single lesson to be learned from the case.
EXCERPT FROM Chapter 4:
Case 1: Broadcom Corp. v. Qualcomm Inc.
ITC Case No. 337-TA-543: Broadcom Corporation as the plaintiff, alleging infringement of a patent for circuits in a mobile handset, against Qualcomm, Inc.
Background to the Decision:
Broadcom Corporation of Irvine, California, and Qualcomm, Inc. of San Diego, were involved in patent litigation against each other, in a variety of forums, from 2005 to 2010. Patent litigation began in both federal court and the ITC in 2005.
The ITC litigation is entitled, “In the Matter of Certain Baseband Processor Chips and Chipsets, Transmitter and Receiver (Radio) Chips, Power Control Chips, and Products Containing Same, Including Cellular Telephone Handsets”. It was a case brought by Broadcom alleging Qualcomm’s infringement of various claims in US 6,714,983, entitled, “Modular, Portable Data Processing Terminal for Use in a Communication Network”, filed in 1995, and issued in 2004.
Preview of the Broadcom Patent:
We will focus on claim #1 for “one or more circuits adapted for use in a mobile computing device.” This circuit may be classified as a “device” or “component” claim.
In the ITC case, Broadcom received an injunction against Qualcomm, and the entire litigation between the two parties was eventually settled with Qualcomm paying $891 million to Broadcom. This case, and the settlement payment of almost one billion dollars, turned on a single word in claim #1. We will identify that single word, determine why it was so important, and understand why Broadcom won the case.
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