Qualcomm has signed a licensing agreement for broadband wireless patents, the company said Thursday. The deal covers OFDM/OFDMA, reports Nancy Gohring, and indicates that Qualcomm’s purchase of Flarion was not so much from the technology but from Flarion’s intellectual property, especially around Mobile WiMAX technology.
Qualcomm acquired Flarion earlier this year. Some vendors and observers like Steve Sanders wonder if Qualcomm, had acquired IP crucial to WiMax.
“Qualcomm and Flarion settled for $1.8 million despite disagreement with the DOJ contention [taking control of Flarion prior to the sale closing]. What grabbed me the most about this was that the allegation that Qualcomm didn’t intend to commercialize Flarion’s technology in its present form. But if Qualcomm is not wanting to leverage Flarion’s gear “as is” what does it want to do with it…
Flarion was on a path to mobility (via 802.20). Now it appears that Qualcomm is on a path to the courthouse.
But Mobile WiMAX (802.16e-2005), actually evolved from WiBro which adopted technology developed by Adaptix and its predecessor Broadstorm.
Soma Networks paid Qualcomm an undisclosed sum for the rights to use Qualcomm’s intellectual property in a new mobile WiMax platform. Gohring reports:
The announcement is essentially a statement from Qualcomm that it plans to enforce its patents, said Caroline Gabriel, an analyst with Rethink Research. “It did not need to announce this since licensing deals are usually confidential, so I think it’s certainly a public challenge to the WiMax players,” she said.
Alvarion Ltd., one of the largest broadband wireless vendors in the market, has not been contacted by Qualcomm regarding its WiMax products, said Rudy Leser, vice president of strategy and marketing for Alvarion. He said Alvarion has spoken with other industry leaders including Intel Corp. and they believe that Qualcomm’s patents aren’t relevant to the WiMax standards.
WiMax vendors fear Qualcomm licenses will increase the cost of WiMAX gear.
Of course Intel has lawyers, too.
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