The never-ending patent battle between Broadcom and Qualcomm wages on. Yesterday Broadcom filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego seeking a declaratory judgment against Qualcomm because that firm's sales and licensing practices amount to patent misuse.
Specifically, the complaint said that Qualcomm's use of "exhausted" patents to control post-sale use of products results in a double recovery of royalties to Qualcomm. And it says that these practices constitute patent misuse.
Several patent cases between these two companies are still pending. These include the high-profile ITC decision last year that banned sales in the U.S of cellular phones that contain Qualcomm chips that infringe on Broadcom patents, which is still under appeal at the Federal Circuit; another case that was stayed by the Santa Ana court, which Broadcom may take to trial; as well as antitrust and litigation misconduct cases that Broadcom has filed against Qualcomm.
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