A New Jersey jury has ruled against Conexant Systems Inc. and told the Newport Beach chipmaker to pay $112 million in damages.
The jury said Conexant’s GlobespanVirata unit, which was acquired in 2004, infringed on three patents for digital subscriber line technology held by Texas Instruments Inc. and related parties.
No payments are required until the end of the second phase of the trial, which involves antitrust accusations. The jury trial for the second phase is scheduled for October.
Investors didn’t like the move and pushed Conexant’s shares down about 20%.
“We are extremely disappointed with the jury’s verdict in the first phase of the case and plan to file several post-trial motions and an appeal,” said Dennis O’Reilly, Conexant senior vice president and chief legal officer.
If Conexant prevails in the second phase, the damages would be eliminated, O’Reilly said.
In 2003, GlobespanVirata filed a complaint against Texas Instruments, claiming that Texas Instruments violated U.S. antitrust law by creating an illegal patent pool, manipulating the patent process, and abusing the process for setting standards related to DSL technology.
Texas Instruments filed counterclaims that same year alleging that GlobespanVirata infringed certain patents.
