Qualcomm's Share Of Cdma 2000 Technology example essay topic

Report on Identifying and Protecting QUALCOMM Inc. Intellectual Property Introduction QUALCOMM Incorporated is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on the Company's CDMA digital technology. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., QUALCOMM has boasted more than 3,000 patent portfolios in wireless industry and has licensed its essential CDMA patent portfolio to more than 125 telecommunications equipment manufacturers worldwide. Under the protection of those IP, QUALCOMM continues to enable the enterprise, network operators and manufacturers, developers and wireless end-users by providing technology innovation and leadership in the telecommunications industry worldwide. This paper will give you a brief analysis on the key forms of QUALCOMM IP, the potential threats and also a general framework to effectively address the intellectual property issues and manage the legal IP risks. QUALCOMM originally made its name known through pioneering and commercializing its CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) digital wireless technology, is now one of the leading enablers of 3 G wireless products and services.

QUALCOMM spearheads the evolution and growth of 3 G wireless by developing CDMA 2000 (R) 1 X, 1 xEV-DO and WCDMA (UMTS) chip sets and end-to-end solutions for network operators and equipment manufactures, as well as other participants in the wireless value chain such as applications developers, publishers and content providers. CDMA works by converting speech into digital information, which is then transmitted as a radio signal over a wireless network. Using a unique code to distinguish each different call, CDMA provides excellent voice capacity and data capability by enabling many more people to share the airwaves at the same time -- -without static, cross-talk or interference. Because of its advantage, CDMA serves as the foundation for 3 G services worldwide. QUALCOMM's major products and services are generated by three categories of technologies. First is CDMA 2000 1 x & CDMA 2000 1 xEV-DO chip sets and solutions, which provide voice and data capabilities within a standard 1.25 MHz CDMA channel for outstanding spectral efficiency and flexibility.

Developed as a direct evolution from the previous generation of proven CDMA systems, QUALCOMM's CDMA 2000 technologies provide the easiest, most cost-effective path to 3 G services for CDMA operators. The second product the company supplies is Wideband CDMA (UMTS) chip sets and solutions, an approved 3 G standard that uses 5 MHz channels for both voice and data. In the area of WCDMA (UMTS) development, QUALCOMM developed the world's first commercially available, fully integrated WCDMA (UMTS) chip set solutions and now offers complete solutions to support high-speed WCDMA (UMTS) networks worldwide. The third is BREW (R) System. It provides a platform to connect all the parts of the mobile marketplace value chain, including application developers, publishers, content providers, device manufacturers, operators and customers with a full offering of products and services dedicated to a global marketplace for wireless data. It is obvious that QUALCOMM stands on its foothold firmly reliant on the extensive patent portfolios generated by the vital CDMA, CDMA 2000 1 x & CDMA 2000 1 xEV-DO and WCDMA technologies widely accepted in the global telecommunication industry.

QUALCOMM co-founders invented CDMA technology, which is fully owned by the company and a 100% key patent. CDMA 2000 (1 x & 1 xEV-DO) and WCDMA technologies are occupied by QUALCOMM as a more than 70% key patent and 30% respectively. In reality, the company extensive patent portfolio has boasted more than 3,000 United States patents and patent application of CDMA and related technologies. To generate royalty revenues and support worldwide adoption of its CDMA technology, QUALCOMM has licensed its essential CDMA patent portfolio to more than 125 telecommunications equipment manufacturers worldwide. Through technology licensing a wide array of chip set and software solutions and the technical support needed to develop products and services for the rapidly growing wireless market are offered to those licensees. These solutions enable them to streamline processes, reduce costs and enhance revenues.

LICENSEE acknowledges and agrees not to contest that QUALCOMM is the sole and exclusive owner of all rights, title and interest, including copyrights, trademarks, patents and trade secrets in the QUALCOMM CDMA wireless products, as well as the underlying QUALCOMM code which exists in the application solutions. Established in San Diego, CA, QUALCOMM has corporate offices in more than 30 geographic locations around the globe spreading over 25 countries. In the United States, the company forms its products and service foundation in approximately 15 states, such as California, Nevada, Colorado, Texas, Massachusetts etc., to provide enhanced wireless experience for the end users in all the parts of the globe... We are well aware that QUALCOMM Incorporated is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on the Company's CDMA digital technology.

QUALCOMM owns patents that are essential to all of the CDMA wireless telecommunications standards that have been adopted or proposed for adoption by standards-setting bodies worldwide. A majority of QUALCOMM's Intellectual Properties are represented by those key patents, which contribute to 85-90% of the company's overall revenues. June 25, 2003- QUALCOMM Incorporated announced the assignment to VIA Telecom, a privately held fables's semiconductor company, of LSI Logic Corporation's CDMAOneTM and CDMA 2000 1 X Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) license under QUALCOMM's patented CDMA technology. The assignment of the royalty-bearing license agreement enables VIA Telecom to develop, manufacture and sell CDMA One and CDMA 2000 1 X ASICs to QUALCOMM's subscriber equipment licensees for digital cellular, personal communications services and wireless local loop applications around the world. Another example of QUALCOMM's WCDMA technology licensing is July 15, 2002 -- QUALCOMM has signed a license agreement for Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) with NEC Corporation.

The company has granted NEC a worldwide license under QUALCOMM's CDMA patent portfolio to develop, manufacture and sell third-generation (3 G) WCDMA and TD-SCDMA ASICs products. Under the terms of the agreement, NEC will pay QUALCOMM an up-front license fee and ongoing royalties as NEC begins selling WCDMA or TD-SCDMA ASICs. The agreement does not cover ASICs for other standards, including cdmaOneTM and CDMA 2000 1 X which are not authorized under the license agreement. Besides the key patents related to CDMA technology, the company has been striving to protect its trade secrets from unlawful use or theft by competitors in communications industry. Roughly 6 years ago QUALCOMM's filing states that the Motorola engineer took the confidential phone housing to Motorola where it was analyzed by other Motorola engineers and managers, and based on this analysis, Motorola learned valuable proprietary information about the Q phone (Q phone is trademark of QUALCOMM Inc.) before it was introduced to the public. QUALCOMM also alleged that Motorola's unlawful possession of the Q phone housing, which is related to Motorola's paging technology and pager products, might be revealed coverage of any CDMA technology.

Just last month, federal court in California recognizes value of QUALCOMM's intellectual property and issue injunction against misappropriation of QUALCOMM's trade secrets by Maxim Integrated Products Inc. It is reported that the United States District Court in San Diego has issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. from any "current and future acts misappropriating trade secrets of QUALCOMM". The court found that QUALCOMM "has shown a course of past conduct by Maxim that is predatory, wrongful and in violation of the laws of the State of California". Under California law, misappropriation consists of the acquisition, disclosure or use of the trade secrets of another, including the development or sale of products that contain or benefit from any misappropriated trade secrets. According to the law, Maxim's sale of integrated circuits or any other products found to contain or benefit from any of the QUALCOMM trade secrets misappropriated by Maxim would violate the injunction. From the information contained herein, we can see QUALCOMM's success depends importantly on the strength of and return from its intellectual property y portfolio.

Thus, the company will vigorously enforce and assert its patent portfolio and trade secrets against all infringers for the long value of its shareholders. But, to protect its "lifeblood" of QUALCOMM, threats to the company's IP need to be identified in case that they were experiencing monetary loss or even loss of actual rights to the very intellectual properties. Theoretically, once a technology patent has been obtained, a competitor may not market the same product or the similar products that utilize the patented technology. It appears that QUALCOMM would not encounter any "threats" toward its core valuable CDMA technology which boasts more than 3,000 United States patents during the whole life of the patent.

However, an array of potential ways that could cause the company to lose its IP rights must be taken into account before we construct a plan to protect them. In this rapid changed world, technology advances at an incredible rate. QUALCOMM successful at delivering CDMA wireless solutions to provide mobile device users around the world with reliable, cost effective voice services and high-speed data connectivity must still make continuous effort to drive innovations to more powerful, reliable, advanced wireless technologies. Once other wireless application technologies spawn through seamlessly integrated solutions to offer more flexible, advanced data service capabilities, QUALCOMM's "unbeatable" CDMA and related technologies, which used to be company's invaluable assets and generate key patents in wireless solutions, will experience sun-set of its life. Thus, keeping a pace with technology evolution is a proactive way to protect IP of high-tech enterprises such as QUALCOMM. As we cited as an example of QUALCOMM filing against Motorola for trade secret theft, the unauthorized possession of Q-phone technology was initially released by Motorola's employee, who might analyze the proprietary information embedded in the technology with his co-workers in Motorola.

Employees con figurate, develop, use, communicate all the proprietary information during all the technical work and may not maintain it under strict confidence by somewhat disclosure, transferring or duplicating of the confidential information. Lack of employees' confidentiality liability erodes or even devastates the company's IP rights under some circumstances. Publicity exposure might fuel the loss of IP rights during the periods of litigation. It could happen as in the example of Motorola's theft, when in the process of QUALCOMM's first filing against Motorola's theft for Q phone technology, QUALCOMM then added filing statement that the proprietary information embedded in Q, which is related to Motorola's paging technology and pager products, might be revealed coverage of any CDMA technology. However, Motorola's new complaint comes two weeks after QUALCOMM filed to add claims of trade secret misappropriation and conversion (i. e., theft) that the additional patents are based on information uncovered during the litigation, and do not claim coverage of any CDMA technology. As a sole and exclusive owner of extensive patent portfolio and other ownership interests, QUALCOMM is undertaking a great task in protecting all the forms of the company's intangible assets -- -intellectual properties.

Technology innovation is key to the enduring success of the company. CDMA 2000 1 x and CDMA 2000 1 xEV-DO evolving from CDMA technology, work as a standard 3 G wireless system. As the pace of standard commercialization and industrialization advances, sharing of intellectual property right (IPR) occurs at a changing rate. For instance, although QUALCOMM is an originator in CDMA 2000 technology, its share of IPR for CDMA in fact, becomes thinner with Nokia offering more highly effective, reliable, flexible content service that speeds QUALCOMM's CDMA wireless application development. Therefore, QUALCOMM's IPR share may not retain immutable in such a rapid-changing technology world. At the present time, the most regular method by which most of QUALCOMM's competitors hope to add up their sharing to CDMA 2000 IPR is to develop an improved version of CDMA 2000 standard.

It is much like CDMA 2000 1 x EV-DV naturally evolving from CDMA 2000 1 x, which QUALCOMM owns little portion of that IP ownership. Most possibly, any wireless solution providers who are working industry wide to deliver customer mobile service by virtual of CDMA 2000 1 xEV-DV may need pay less royalties to QUALCOMM. In this way, QUALCOMM's share of CDMA 2000 technology is reduced indeed. Secondly, in order to protect the company's IP, employee's confidentiality contracts will allow QUALCOMM to protect itself from employees' unethical behavior in employment relationship by enforcing the terms and considerations applicable to the Assignment.

The contract may embrace a third party, subject to a duty of the company to keep such information in confidence and request the perspective employee to sign on the Confidentiality Contract against any release or disclosure any trade secret, know-how and information relating to the technology, clients, partners before they are really hired. (A sample Employee Confidentiality Contract is provided in the attachment.) However, there is a regular and well-accepted way that QUALCOMM has been deployed since ever to protect its IP assets and to protect the company's shareholders' value -- -technology licensing. With the rapid expansion of CDMA worldwide, the Company authorizes third parties to design, manufacture and sell products utilizing its CDMA technology through licensing by which QUALCOMM can effectively prohibit the unlawful use of such providers who want badly CDMA 2000 technology to offer businesses, consumers and other customers with a complete portfolio of solutions. Meanwhile, the company has captured the economic harvest through a license agreement. Facts show that royalty revenue has consistently grown since the first commercial deployment of CDMA technology in 1995. Moreover, QUALCOMM's authorized CDMA suppliers that have rights under some or all of QUALCOMM's patent portfolio where limitations may apply as to the products and / or technologies that are authorized.

Because most of patents and patent applications applicable to CDMA and other technologies have been filed in key foreign jurisdictions, we do need consider some other means that will allow us to tackle thorny litigation targeting QUALCOMM's IP. Fortunately, QUALCOMM has a strong group well-equipped with intellectual property law experts who are devoted themselves to protecting the company's most invaluable assets. As evidenced lately, they have won the filing against TI (Texas Instrument) infringement on adopting CDMA 2000 1 x technology in chip set designing. Fourthly, QUALCOMM may make resort to Non competition Agreements under the state statute, but do not fail to apply those restrictions to different relevant state laws because QUALCOMM has many locations over 14 states. We may be notified that under the state of California, non competition agreement is not legal under the state statute.

Conclusion As a pioneer and world leader of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital wireless technology, QUALCOMM has more than 3,000 patents and patent portfolio in related technology. IP right is "lifeblood" and a key to the company's enduring success. The extent to which QUALCOMM's IP is protected have a significant impact on the Company's ability to successfully design and have manufactured significant quantities of CDMA components on a timely and profitable basis. QUALCOMM's approaches to protect CDMA 2000 (1 x and 1 x EV-DO) and WCDMA (UMTS) -- -the two most widely accepted International Telecommunications Union-approved 3 G standards are its current important task to undertake. Reference 1.

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Gary W, Glisson, Anthony, Feb 3, 2005, Protecting IP Through Statutory Registration an Through Employment, Service, and Distribution Contracts, Tab 7-104. Qualcomm Inc., retrieved Feb. 6, 2005 from web download's dk. j sp 5. Qualcomm Inc., retrieved Feb. 7, 2005 from web print. html 6. Jennewein, Klaus, (2003) Intellectual Property Management, 34-367. Xue feng, Chen, a Ph. D. student of ECE in OSU, my husband, who has worked in QUALCOMM Inc. for the past six months in San Diego, provided lots of valuable real-world experience and knowledge.