Qualcomm Inc

Chip maker Qualcomm Inc. has agreed to pay a $1.8-million penalty to settle complaints that it violated antitrust rules in its $600-million purchase of Flarion Technologies Inc., the Justice Department said. San Diego-based Qualcomm obtained operational control over Flarion despite a waiting period in which the companies were supposed to function independently, the department said.

Qualcomm Inc. and Motorola Inc. said they have agreed to dismiss all lawsuits against each other over the design of mobile phones that use San Diego-based Qualcomm's wireless technology format. The two companies also have agreed to a three-year moratorium on patent infringement lawsuits related to Qualcomm's code division multiple access technology. No payments are being made under the dismissal agreement.

Carol Lam, who was forced out by the Bush administration as U.S. attorney, will become senior vice president and legal counsel for Qualcomm Inc., the locally based telecommunications company. Lam starts at Qualcomm on Feb. 26. Her last day as U.S. attorney was Thursday. Executive Assistant U.S. Atty. Karen Hewitt will act as interim U.S. attorney while the Bush administration selects a successor.

Broadcom Corp. may pursue a dismissed antitrust complaint against Qualcomm Inc., the world's second-largest maker of chips for wireless phones. Broadcom cited a Federal Trade Commission decision recently against Rambus Inc. that it said conflicted with the ruling by U.S. District Judge Mary Cooper, who dismissed the Qualcomm case. Irvine-based Broadcom, a maker of semiconductors used in communications, said it might appeal the judge's ruling or file an amended complaint.

Wireless technology company Qualcomm Inc. said it was suing chip maker Broadcom Corp. for alleged patent infringement in the latest of a series of legal disputes between the two companies. In the suit, filed in federal court in San Diego, Qualcomm charges that Broadcom violated seven of its patents, which Qualcomm considers "essential" to the manufacturing standards of certain cellular and wireless network equipment. Broadcom did not respond to a request for comment.

Qualcomm Inc. raised its fiscal fourth-quarter sales and profit forecasts because of increased royalties and unexpectedly strong demand in North America and Latin America. Profit excluding some costs will be as much as 33 cents a share, compared with a July forecast of as much as 31 cents, San Diego-based Qualcomm said. Sales could reach $1.58 billion, up from a $1.53-billion forecast. Shares of Qualcomm rose 31 cents to $43.73.

Qualcomm Inc. said it would ship more mobile telephone chips than the company previously forecast during this quarter and next as consumers snap up handsets with color screens and digital cameras. At least 28 million chips will be shipped in its fiscal first quarter ending Dec. 29, compared with a previous estimate of 25 million to 27 million, the San Diego-based company said. Qualcomm will ship 24 million to 27 million chips in the next three months, more than a forecast of at least 20 million.

Chip maker Broadcom Corp. said emergency first-responders could continue using mobile phones with a battery-saving technology involved in a patent dispute with rival Qualcomm Inc. State and local agencies and private nonprofit organizations will be able to import mobile phones for public, safety and emergency response purposes, Irvine-based Broadcom said. The U.S.

Qualcomm Inc. is infringing a Broadcom Corp. patent on a way to conserve battery power in cellphone handsets, a U.S. trade panel found, upholding an administrative judge's finding. The International Trade Commission will decide on a remedy by Feb. 9 for Qualcomm's use of the technology without permission, Broadcom said. Broadcom, a maker of chips for consumer electronic devices, wants the commission to ban imports of handsets with Qualcomm's newest chips.

Qualcomm Inc. filed its third patent-infringement suit since July against Broadcom Corp. The suit claims that Irvine-based Broadcom misused Qualcomm's designs for semiconductors used in cellphones, San Diego-based Qualcomm said. Qualcomm is demanding that Broadcom stop using the technology and pay damages. The companies have filed six lawsuits against each other since last May after Broadcom, a maker of chips for cable-television set-top boxes, began making chips for cellphones.