Oakland resident files antitrust charges against Qualcomm: Suit mirrors charges previously filed by Broadcom

A class-action antitrust lawsuit has been filed against Qualcomm Inc., the San Diego-based CDMA technology giant. The suit appears to echo similar claims filed against Qualcomm by rival Broadcom, but was filed by an individual, Jesse Meyer, who bought a Motorola Inc. Razr from AT&T Mobility.
“This complaint arises from defendant Qualcomm Inc.’s illegal and anticompetitive conduct in markets for the technology and chipsets that operate cellphones employing W-CDMA, a third-generation technology that is implemented through the UMTS standard,” the 31-page lawsuit stated. “Qualcomm, by its intentional deception of private standards-determining organizations, has monopolized certain markets for cellular telephone technology and components.”
Qualcomm has been ensnarled by a number of suits over the years, mainly filed by tech rivals or overseas regulatory bodies. However, this latest suit was filed by an individual, Jesse Meyer, for himself and others in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. The suit states that Meyer, a resident of Oakland, receives mobile service from AT&T Mobility, and bought a Motorola Razr V3xx on June 1, 2007, in an AT&T store for $121.24.
The lawsuit then goes on to build a case against Qualcomm based on antitrust theory.
Alan Himmelfarb, the plaintiffs’ lead attorney in Los Angeles, did not return an e-mail and a phone message requesting comment.
“Qualcomm has received the complaint and we are evaluating it. The allegations appear to be essentially the same as those previously filed by Broadcom in New Jersey,” said Emily Kilpatrick, a Qualcomm spokeswoman.
In 2006, a federal court in New Jersey dismissed Broadcom’s antitrust lawsuit against Qualcomm. A federal appeals court last September affirmed the dismissal of all but two of Broadcom’s antitrust claims against Qualcomm. The latter two claims were reinstated and returned to U.S. district court.