Qualcomm Sues Nokia in Patent Dispute

Qualcomm announced on Monday that it had filed a lawsuit against competitor Nokia, accusing the company of infringement on 12 patents related to the manufacture of devices that adhere to the GSM standard. The suit seeks a halt to Nokia's phone sales in the United States, as well as monetary damages.

Nokia along with five other manufacturers had complained last week to the European Commission over Qualcomm's business practices. The companies alleged that Qualcomm was attempting to shut out competitors in making chips for 3G mobile phones.

In the suit, Qualcomm says that in order for GSM to remain competitive against CDMA in the 3G arena, companies like Nokia have used patented technologies to speed up data rates and enhance capacity of their networks. Qualcomm had filed a similar lawsuit against Broadcom, which included six of the patents referenced in the Nokia complaint, back in July.

"Until recently, we had been led to believe that these issues might be resolved cooperatively and amicably," Qualcomm general counsel Louis Lupin said in a statement. "However, it now appears that a cooperative resolution of these issues is quite unlikely and we must move forward with the litigation in order to protect our rights and to get these issues resolved."

Nokia had no immediate comment on the suit.

Whether the companies like it or not, they all must work together to push the 3G W-CDMA standard. Qualcomm has contributed significantly to the standard, but competitors such as Nokia and Ericsson also say they have made contributions and expect royalties.

However, Qualcomm has stuck to its licensing terms, which have led to the disagreements.

"Qualcomm is prepared to offer licenses under its essential GSM/GPRS/EDGE patents on fair and reasonable terms free from unfair discrimination to any company that requests one," the company said.