Additional data on mechanisms used to arbitrate and resolve telecom disputes should be collected in support of a 2008 World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly resolution on dispute settlement, said a U.S. Department of State filing to an ITU-T study group. The resolution called for faster work on international connectivity and to collect data on implementing ITU-T recommendations on general principles for telecom pricing and fees. Many countries have agreed to the dispute settlement clause for interconnection in the World Trade Organization reference paper, the resolution said. Commercial arrangements between service providers that govern international connectivity routinely include mutually agreed dispute settlement mechanisms, containing venue, the choice of law for resolving disputes and efforts that must be made before arbitration can be started, the U.S. said. Current mechanisms have worked well and show no signs of failing to deal with current or expected connectivity matters, the U.S. said. Governments and private parties use several organizations for international arbitration, including the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes and the Stockholm Chambers of Commerce, and ad hoc arbitration under United Nations Commission on International Trade Law rules. Other groups also arbitrate international disputes between private parties, the U.S. said, citing the International Chamber of Commerce, Stockholm Chambers of Commerce, London Court of International Arbitration, American Arbitration Association, and the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission. The study group meets five days starting Jan. 19.
Court of International Trade activity
An overhaul of intercarrier compensation and the Universal Service Fund could upset broadband deployment and hurt companies in and outside the telecom industry, telecom interests warned in reply comments this week. Replies were due Monday on three FCC overhaul plans. Though many arguments were repeats from the initial comment round, some new faces appeared, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service, and associations for utilities and payphone providers.
Samsung Electronics was sued on patent infringement allegations by flash-memory vendor Spansion. Spansion filed suits at the U.S. International Trade Commission and in federal district court in Delaware. It seeks an ITC ban on import of Samsung products using memory chips that Spansion claims infringe its patents. The district court complaint seeks an injunction against the imports, plus damages.
A federal appeals court dismissed an International Trade Commission (ITC) ban on importing some 3G cellphones with chips from Qualcomm, court filings said. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated a section of the same ITC decision holding that Qualcomm induced infringement of a patent held by Broadcom. The court said the ITC lacks standing to ban products made by downstream users of Qualcomm chips not named in Broadcom’s complaint. The court said Broadcom knew who Qualcomm’s customers are, but chose not to name them in the action. Qualcomm said the court disapproved of Broadcom’s “tactic of attacking the wireless industry, including handset manufacturers and wireless operators, without providing them with the opportunity to defend themselves in the action.” Broadcom will take its complaint back to the ITC, a spokesman said. Continued use by Qualcomm of Broadcom’s patented technology would “meet the new standard of intent and be found to infringe,” he said. Broadcom will continue to pursue “other avenues for enforcement against infringement” of its intellectual property by Qualcomm, he said. ITC doesn’t comment on pending litigation, a spokeswoman said. At issue was a Broadcom patent allowing mobile devices to operate in a reduced power mode to extend battery life. The ITC ruled in 2007 that Qualcomm was liable for patent infringement since it convinced third-party cellphone makers to install Qualcomm chips and battery-saving software in mobile devices. ITC issued an order barring cellphone makers and wireless operators from importing phones with the infringing Qualcomm chips into the U.S.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that Qualcomm may have infringed on a patent held by Broadcom. Broadcom initially accused Qualcomm of importing chipsets that infringed on five of Broadcom’s patents in a complaint before the U.S. International Trade Commission. An administrative law judge threw out two of the claims and held that only one of the remaining three patents had been violated. Qualcomm’s appeal to this case was consolidated with those of other handset manufacturers and is currently pending in Kyocera vs. the International Trade Commission. Broadcom appealed the two non-infringement decisions and the court affirmed one of the judgements and vacated the other, remanding the case further proceedings.
GENEVA -- The EC proposed wide-ranging renegotiation of the World Trade Organization Information Technology Agreement to address rising international concern about non-tariff trade barriers and possibly to reduce duties on electronic products that don’t qualify for exemption from them (CD May 29 p1). The proposal comes about a week before the WTO is expected to agree to a U.S., Japanese and Taiwanese request for a dispute resolution panel on the ITA case (WID May 29 p1) (CD May 29 p1) (SW June 2 p2) (CED May 29 p5). The EC proposal may be an attempt to salvage key voluntary agreements under negotiation in the Doha round of trade talks, we're told.
Qualcomm lost a key court case in the United Kingdom in its long-running battle with Nokia over patents. It was the second loss for Qualcomm in a week, after the U.S. International Trade Commission last week rejected Qualcomm’s petition for review of a December decision that Nokia doesn’t infringe three alleged Qualcomm patents. Both companies are scheduled to square off this summer in Delaware as a court there holds what’s expected to be a hearing consolidating various lawsuits and countersuits.
The International Trade Commission won’t review a ruling that Nokia GSM phones don’t infringe Qualcomm patents. Last December, Administrative Law Judge Paul Luckern ruled that two patents didn’t apply and the third was invalid (CD Dec 14 p8). That decision is now final and the case is closed. Nokia said it was “pleased.” Qualcomm said it was “disappointed” and may appeal to the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
Securities plaintiffs’ litigators are gunning for Comcast executives after the company’s share price dropped more than 12 percent on Dec. 5 when the company reduced its growth forecasts and increased spending estimates (CD Dec 6 p13). Comcast’s uncharacteristic warning to investors at a UBS conference came after the company reported on Oct. 25 disappointing results for the third quarter that pushed the stock down 11 percent that day. Those drops in stock price came after months of rosy predictions from Comcast executives, a lawsuit alleged. It alleged they failed to disclose that increased competition from satellite and telco pay-TV providers forced the company to spend more money to attract and keep customers and that the cost of upgrading its network and equipment was exceeding internal expectations.
Qualcomm faces another investigation by the International Trade Commission, which in the summer issued a limited exclusion order banning import of Qualcomm cell phone chips said to infringe Broadcom patents. Broadcom seeks “fines and additional orders against Qualcomm to finally put a stop to their infringement,” a Broadcom spokesman said. Broadcom filed a complaint last month alleging that Qualcomm had violated the ITC ban by continued marketing, testing and programming of infringing chips. Qualcomm filed an opposition this month. After reviewing the filings, the ITC found that Broadcom’s complaint complied with commission rules “for institution of a formal enforcement proceeding,” the commission said. The ITC “is not taking a position on Broadcom’s complaint and has referred it to an administrative law judge for handling,” a Qualcomm spokeswoman said. “Any time frame for handling will be set by the ALJ. In the meantime, the stay on the downstream exclusion order remains in place.” Qualcomm has a stay on the “bulk” of the ITC injunction while it appeals in the Federal Circuit U.S. Appeals Court, said Stifel Nicolaus analyst Rebecca Arbogast. However, “there was no stay in effect” that would have let Qualcomm bring in standalone chips not contained in handsets “for engineering and research purposes,” she said. “The larger lesson to be drawn… is how aggressive the legal challenges will be to any workaround that Qualcomm says it has.”