Qualcomm chips back on the menu

Embattled US chip shop Qualcomm won a victory of sorts on Wednesday, when a federal judge granted a stay on the ban preventing the import of handsets containing Qualcomm chips.

The stay pending appeal applies to third party handset manufacturers and operators that filed motions seeking limited exclusion from the order imposed by the ITC on Qualcomm. The companies in question are Kyocera Wireless, Motorola, Samsung Electronics, Sanyo Fisher, T-Mobile USA, LG Electronics, and AT&T.

In June, the International Trade Commission (ITC) banned the import of new 3G phone models using chips made by Qualcomm. The ban came into effect after Qualcomm was previously found guilty of infringing three Broadcom patents related to cellular baseband chips.

Qualcomm and the third parties had argued that the ITC lacked the authority to issue an order excluding products imported by firms other than Qualcomm.

However, the Federal Circuit declined to grant a stay with respect to Qualcomm’s own imports, including redesigned chips and products containing them.