Stephen Carter will stand down from his role as Chief Executive Officer of Ofcom from mid October. Until his successor is appointed, chairman David Currie will take the reins.
Qualcomm has a reputation for its readiness to sue other companies for patent rights infringement – about a third of its income comes from royalties – and the latest target is Nokia, which Qualcomm is suing both in the States and the UK.
In the Patents Court here Qualcomm alleges Nokia has infringed its intellectual property “in relation to mobile devices which are capable of operating in accordance with the GPRS and/or EDGE standards but not having a capability to operate with CDMA technology”.
Nokia has a licence for the patents but it will expire in April 2007; Qualcomm says Nokia won’t discuss a renewal.
Nokia feels it has a stronger patent position now than it did in the 1990s. And in concert with other vendors Nokia has filed a complaint with the EU charging Qualcomm with anticompetitive behaviour; the investigation should start soon.