A patent dispute between Irvine-based Broadcom Corp. and CSR PLC is set to resume after an appeals court ruled against the British chipmaker in an ongoing case involving global positioning system chips.
The case stretches back to 2006, when Broadcom alleged that San Jose-based Sirf Technology Holdings Inc. infringed on its patents for GPS navigation chips for cell phones.
Sirf was acquired by CSR for $136 million last year. The patent dispute predates the deal, which was struck in June.
In 2008, an International Trade Commission judge ruled that Sirf infringed on six of Broadcom’s patents for global positioning in cell phones.
The federal appeals court on Tuesday affirmed the ruling that said Sirf had infringed on three Broadcom patents and banned imports of the GPS chips.
The GPS-related patents all apply to older products that aren’t currently on the market.
Sirf has since redesigned the GPS chips in question, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
CSR specializes in Bluetooth chips and competes with Broadcom, which has the top market share for Bluetooth chips that go into Internet-connected devices.
Both companies supply chips to the world’s top cell phone makers, including Nokia Corp., Apple Inc. and Research in Motion Ltd.
CSR said it could see further litigation from Broadcom or others.
“We will continue to take appropriate steps to deal with any claims that may be made,” the company said in a statement.
