The European Commission has initiated formal anti-trust
proceedings againstQualcommfor the alleged breach of
European competition rules over the sale of3G mobile technology.
Qualcomm owns patents which are integral in the
CDMA and
W-CDMA 3G mobile
standards.
W-CDMA is used to deliver 3G in European countries, and mobile
phone manufacturers and chipset producers have complained to the
European Commission that Qualcomm is using its 3G patents in an
unfair way to restrict trade.
Complaints were made by Ericsson, Nokia, Texas Instruments,
Broadcom, NEC and Panasonic.
Qualcomm president, Steve Altman, said, "We are pleased that the
commission has decided to give the case priority status to move it
forward swiftly to resolution.
"We welcome the continuation of our dialogue with the Commission
in order to demonstrate that the complaints are without merit, and
are motivated by commercial considerations of the entrenched
complainants who are trying to stifle the competition that Qualcomm
brings to the market."
Qualcomm has previously taken legal action Nokia and others over
the use of its patented 2G and 2.5G mobile technology.