Qualcomm said that its suit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Diego, that Broadcom infringed on its patents in its chipsets used both for GSM-based cellular equipment and Wi-Fi wireless LAN equipment. In legalese, Qualcomm claimed its patents are "essential" to Broadcom's manufacturer of that equipment. That means Qualcomm claims that Broadcom couldn't create the equipment without automatically infringing on the patents.
Qualcomm made its name by developing technology used in CDMA cellular systems, but it claims some of its patents. In a statement, Qualcomm claimed:
"GSM systems have been adding data and other capabilities, via GPRS and EDGE technologies, with advancements such as higher data transmission rates, increased spectral efficiency/greater capacity, resistance to interference, access to packet switched networks and multimedia distribution. As a result, these evolving GSM Standards now incorporate a number of Qualcomm's patented inventions, originally developed to enable such capabilities in CDMA networks."
This is the latest skirmish in the war between the two companies. Last week, Broadcom sued Qualcomm for anti-trust violations, a charge that Qualcomm called "meritless."