Court gives ITC two weeks to justify Qualcomm ban

Federal courts have given federal regulators until June 27 to justify a ban on new models of 3G phones powered by Qualcomm Inc.’s chips, while the chip vendor appeals the ban.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has given the United States International Trade Commission two weeks to defend its partial ban on importation of 3G handsets with Qualcomm chips while the vendor’s appeal on the ITC’s decision is heard, according to a Qualcomm spokesperson.
The ITC rendered its remedy on June 7-a ban on the importation of new models of 3G handsets with Qualcomm’s chips that were found to infringe a patent owned by Broadcom Corp.-and Qualcomm has appealed that decision in federal court. The court has asked the ITC to explain why the ban should remain in place while Qualcomm appeals.
Meanwhile, Qualcomm, Verizon Wireless and LG Electronics Co. Ltd.-all three businesses could suffer under the importation ban, particularly in the fourth quarter, according to analysts-have all asked the Bush administration to veto the ITC’s decision.
Broadcom had requested a total ban on handset imports containing the offending chip and the ITC apparently balanced the need to protect patent rights with the impact that a ban would have on the public, the wireless industry and the U.S. economy. However, the ITC was split 3-2, with dissenting commissioners saying the partial ban had too great an impact on third parties. Qualcomm is basing its appeal of the ITC ban, in part, on that reasoning.