Reuters is reporting that the US is banning cellphones which use new chips made by Qualcomm, because of a patent infringement lawsuit brought on by Broadcom.
In addition, Qualcomm has also been ordered to pay damages. I don't know the exact figures, but the amount seemed rather low considering that their chips are getting banned.
I would think that Broadcom would be interested in allowing their patent to be licensed, as in the case of the Research in Motion patent. In that case, the patent owner did not actually manufacture anything though.
The ban excludes current phone models, and Qualcomm is attempting to get an emergency stay of the order. They are also asking for the Whitehouse to invalidate the order, which from the sounds of it is possible but unlikely.
