Monday, December 15, 2003

PCTEL and Broadcom Settle Patent Dispute

PCTEL, a provider of 802.11 mobility software and software-defined radio products, has settled a patent infringement lawsuit with Broadcom. The dispute concerned "soft modems," a technology pioneered by PCTEL in the 1990s, and other voice band modem technology.


Under the agreement, Broadcom will receive a license to all of PCTEL's modem patents, including those related to V.92 technology, and other patent applications recently acquired from Conexant Systems, as well as a conditional covenant not to sue under PCTEL's remaining patents. Additionally, PCTEL will assign to Broadcom two key patents relating to Ethernet technology. Finally, Broadcom has agreed to become a PCTEL Segue Roaming Client customer.
http://www.pctel.com

  • In May 2003, PCTEL, a provider of 802.11 mobility software and software-defined radio products, filed patent infringement lawsuits against modem manufacturers Agere Systems, Broadcom, Lucent, and U.S. Robotics Corporation. The suits allege infringement of modem technology developed or acquired by PCTEL. A similar complaint was filed against 3Com in March 2003.


  • Earlier, PCTEL divested its modem product line to Conexant Systems. In addition to cash consideration, Conexant granted PCTEL ownership of approximately 50 modem related patents.