Qualcomm

Chip maker Qualcomm Inc. said late Sunday that it would pay Broadcom Corp. $891 million over four years to settle a long-standing dispute over patents and royalties. The San Diego company said it would pay the first $200 million to the rival Irvine chip maker by the end of June. The agreement dismisses with prejudice all litigation between the companies, including overseas, with Broadcom agreeing to withdraw its complaints to the European Commission and the Korea Fair Trade Commission.

Qualcomm Inc. said it has licensed Taiwan's largest cordless-telephone maker, Cherish Telecom, to use Qualcomm's code division multiple access, or CDMA, technology, in a multimillion-dollar deal. San Diego-based Qualcomm also said it entered into a licensing agreement with First International Computer, also of Taiwan. Qualcomm shares closed down $1.88 to $53 on Nasdaq.

Broadcom Corp. sued Qualcomm Inc., saying chip patent misuse has resulted in double royalties and hurt competitors and customers. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Diego, is the latest between San Diego-based Qualcomm and its Irvine rival.

Texas Instruments Inc., the world's biggest maker of chips that run mobile phones, sued Qualcomm Inc., saying the company broke a contract by giving discounts to cell phone makers that agree to use Qualcomm's chips exclusively. The company is asking the Delaware Chancery Court to force Qualcomm to adhere to a licensing deal with Texas Instruments and to stop Qualcomm from making false or misleading statements about the agreement, Texas Instruments said in a statement.

Qualcomm Inc. said a federal judge's order to stop selling chips for cellphones that infringe patents held by its Irvine-based rival, Broadcom Inc., would have an immediate, short-term effect on its business. U.S. District Judge James Selna of Santa Ana ruled Monday that San Diego-based Qualcomm couldn't sell chips that rely on three Broadcom patents. Qualcomm said it was working on new chips that sidestep the Broadcom patents.

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.

Qualcomm Inc. agreed to buy Firethorn Holdings for about $210 million in cash to expand in mobile-banking software. Firethorn's product enables consumers to use their mobile phones to view account balances and history, pay bills and transfer funds, San Diego-based Qualcomm said.

Nokia won a British patent lawsuit filed by Qualcomm Inc. over patents related to cellphone technology. A justice ruled that one of San Diego-based Qualcomm's patents was invalid and that another was partially invalid. Penalties will be determined at a future hearing, he added.

Qualcomm Inc. shares rose 11% after the company said authorities in Japan and Europe upheld three key patents on its mobile-phone technology. Qualcomm rose $6.75 on Nasdaq to close at $69.81. The company said its patents withstood a challenge by Nokia, Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. and other companies that are supporting a new rival version of the cell-phone standard developed by Qualcomm.

Qualcomm Inc. said it sued Ericsson of Sweden on charges of unfair competition in a suit that comes on the heels of an Ericsson suit claiming the San Diego company infringed eight of Ericsson's wireless telephone patents. Qualcomm said in its suit filed in U.S. District Court in San Diego that Ericsson's patent infringement charges violate a nondisclosure pact between the companies.