Qualcomm and Nortel Extend Patent Sharing

Qualcomm and Nortel have extended and expanded the patent and product scope of their previous CDMA cross-license agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, Qualcomm has granted Nortel a royalty-bearing license under its patent portfolio to manufacture and sell infrastructure products for use in CDMA and GSM wireless networks, and Nortel has granted Qualcomm a license under its patent portfolio to manufacture and sell components for use in CDMA subscriber devices (including multi-mode CDMA/GSM devices) and infrastructure products.

The agreement also provides each party with additional patent rights beyond CDMA and GSM, but does not cover Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) / Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) (other than certain IEEE 802.11 and MediaFLO rights).

"We welcome the expansion of our prior license agreement with Nortel, a proven leader in the development and supply of CDMA and other mobile broadband products," said Derek Aberle, senior vice president and general manager of Qualcomm Technology Licensing. "This agreement paves the way for increasing cooperation between Qualcomm and Nortel, one of Qualcomm's earliest CDMA licensees, as we work together to drive continued growth of the CDMA market for the benefit of consumers worldwide."

Posted to the site on 19th March 2007