Thursday, 13 September 2007

Judge Lets LG, Samsung Sell CDMA Phones In US

A US court has permitted South Korean firms LG Electronics and Samsung to sell phones embedded with CDMA chips made by Qualcomm.

A Washington Appeals Court has put on hold a ruling that barred the sale of phones consisting of Qualcomm chips. The ban was imposed after Qualcomm’s rival Broadcom said Qualcomm, the inventor of CDMA technology, infringed on some patents that rightfully belongs to Broadcom.

Besides the Korean companies, there are others also such as Motorola, Sanyo and Kyocera that can sell new CDMA mobile phones in the US before the holiday season.

The Qualcomm chips are used in more advanced phones that have features including faster Internet access and higher definition graphics.

The case relates to a battery power saving feature that Broadcom has patented. The patent expires in 2010. Broadcom claims that Qualcomm violated the patent and put the same feature in its chips that power CDMA phones.