Broadcom Awarded Double Damages and Attorneys' Fees in Qualcomm Patent Infringement Case

(Top News, 14 Aug 2007)

A U.S. District Court judge in Santa Ana, Calif. has ordered Qualcomm Inc. to pay double damages of $39.3 million for past infringement of three Broadcom Corp. patents. The judge also ordered Qualcomm to pay Broadcom's attorneys' fees in the litigation.

An injunction hearing in the case, in which Broadcom is seeking to bar future infringement of the patents by Qualcomm, is scheduled to begin Tuesday.

In May, a federal jury in Santa Ana found that Qualcomm had "willfully infringed" the three Broadcom patents, and awarded Broadcom $19.64 million in damages. The "willfulness" finding provided the judge with the discretion to increase the damages. In doubling the amount of damages initially awarded by the jury, U.S. District Judge James V. Selna reasoned: "There is a spectrum of improper conduct for determining the amount to award. That Qualcomm's conduct was not at the most egregious end of the spectrum does not mean that no enhanced award is due." He found awarding the attorneys' fees "appropriate for the same reasons as the damages enhancement. Broadcom has demonstrated that this case is exceptional by clear and convincing evidence." Judge Selna issued a tentative ruling on the awards August 9; today he made the order final.

Today's ruling follows two other recent adverse decisions involving Qualcomm:

- On August 7, a U.S. District Court judge in San Diego found that Qualcomm engaged in "aggravated litigation misconduct" and "intentional abuse of industry standards bodies" in an infringement case it brought involving two digital video compression patents. As a result, he ruled that Qualcomm had waived its rights to enforce the patents and also awarded Broadcom its attorneys' fees and costs in that case. Citing Qualcomm's litigation misconduct, a magistrate judge in the same court today ordered fourteen outside attorneys for Qualcomm to appear at an August 29 hearing to address the issue of sanctions.

- On August 6, the Bush Administration let stand a June 6 U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) order barring the importation of certain Qualcomm chips that infringe a Broadcom patent and future downstream products such as cellular phones that incorporate those chips.

"We've demonstrated again and again that Qualcomm cannot sell its chips without a license to Broadcom's patents," said David A. Dull, Broadcom's Senior Vice President and General Counsel. "We will continue to aggressively seek all available remedies to shut down that infringement."

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