A federal appeals court on Wednesday turned down Qualcomm Inc.’s request to put a hold on a ban against sales of its cell phone chips stemming from a ruling last year that favored Irvine-based rival Broadcom Corp.
Qualcomm requested a hold on the ban to The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal District while it pursues an appeal of a patent suit won by Broadcom in July, according to a report from technology news Web site EEtimes.com.
The appeals court also dismissed an attempt by Sprint Nextel Corp. to intervene in the case, the report showed.
“We are gratified that the U.S. Court of Appeals rejected Qualcomm’s motion for a stay, leaving in force the injunction against Qualcomm’s infringement issued by the U.S. District Court in Santa Ana,” Broadcom General Counsel David Dull said in a statement.
In July a Santa Ana judge ruled that Qualcomm must pay royalties to Broadcom for the chips it sells until January 31, 2009, when it must stop selling the chips altogether or work out another licensing deal.
Broadcom had a recent market value of about $9 billion.
