The spat between Irvine-based Broadcom Corp. and San Diego’s Qualcomm Inc. just got nastier.
On Monday Broadcom said in a statement that the U.S. International Trade Commission is looking into whether rival Qualcomm has engaged in unfair trade practices. The inquiry is the result of a 54-page complaint Broadcom filed in May.
In the complaint, Broadcom had asked the ITC to bar U.S. imports of products made in Taiwan. The chip company also is looking for a permanent order to bar the U.S. imports of those products.
Today’s action comes a month after Broadcom, a maker of high-speed communications chips, filed two complaints in federal court that alleged Qualcomm, the maker of cell-phone chips, violated patents on Broadcom chips.
Broadcom sought damages and an injunction in the sale of those chips.
The chipmaker has been among Orange County’s most active buyers and
protectors of patents.
The company has filed at least 12 patent suits since 1996, according to
Menlo Park-based legal research company iPriori Inc.
Early last year, Broadcom bought a portfolio of chip patents from Austin,
Texas-based Cirrus Logic Inc. It then sued rival Agere Systems Inc. of
Allentown, Pa., for allegedly violating the patents.
The patents cover how data are stored and accessed on magnetic and optical
drives.
Broadcom also sued another rival, Plano, Texas-based Microtune Inc., which
earlier sued Broadcom over patents. The companies settled the spat last
year.
