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WASHINGTON - Qualcomm Inc won a round in its patent battles with wireless phone maker Nokia as a US trade court tossed out a lawsuit asking for Qualcomm's chips to be barred from the United States.
The US International Trade Commission dropped the Nokia lawsuit due to pending arbitration, the commission said.
"The case is finished at the ITC," said ITC staffer John Greer.
Nokia had alleged infringement of patents on technology that made its telephones smaller and more efficient.
An ITC administrative law judge granted Qualcomm's motion to dismiss the suit on October 18. Nokia protested, requesting a review of the decision, but the commission upheld it.
Qualcomm General Counsel Alex Rogers said Nokia had been barred from filing patent lawsuits against Qualcomm because of arbitration underway in Los Angeles.
The arbitration petition was filed in April, Rogers said in a telephone interview, while ITC documents show the trade court opened its investigation into the Nokia suit in September.
"From our point of view, Nokia is not entitled to sue Qualcomm for patent infringement," Rogers said.
Nokia was not immediately available for comment.
There are more than a dozen lawsuits pending between Nokia and Qualcomm on three continents.
In the suit dismissed by the ITC, Nokia had requested the ITC bar the importation of certain Qualcomm chips used in cell phones.
- REUTERS
