Broadcom CEO Dr Henry Nicholas said:
"The jury's unanimous verdict clearly
recognised that Broadcom products implementing two of the most
widely deployed industry standards, MPEG and Ethernet, do not
infringe the Intel patents. This is an important victory not just
for Broadcom but for the communications and networking marketplaces
as well."
The jury rejected Intel's claims that its networking patent
covered all 10/100 Base-T Ethernet networks. 10/100 Base-T Ethernet
is the international standard used to connect computers together in
the vast majority of all computer networks worldwide. The
invalidated Intel patent was originally issued to Dayna
Communications and involved an invention used in the implementation
of the now outdated Appletalk networking protocol. That patent,
which was issued in 1990 and which was acquired by Intel in 1997 as
part of its acquisition of Dayna, had never previously been
asserted. In the first assertion of that 11-year-old patent, Intel
chose to assert it only against Broadcom. According to Broadcom, if
Intel's claims had been upheld, the patent would have covered the
products shipped by nearly every computer networking company in the
world.
The company added that the issues of Intel's patent misuse and
inequitable conduct will be decided by the U.S. District Court in
Delaware at a later date.
Intel is still suing Broadcom in a separate action over another
three Intel patents. In that action, Broadcom is counter-claiming
that it is the victim of unfair business practices. Intel last week
settled another infringement claim with Via Technologies of Taiwan.
Again, both companies are continuing to argue other infringement
lawsuits.
