SiRF Appeals ITC Ruling on Broadcom Dispute

SiRF Technology has petitioned the International Trade Commission (ITC) to review part of a ruling earlier this month that found that Broadcom didn’t infringe upon two of its patents as the company alleged.

ITC Administrative Law Judge Paul Luckern issued his initial determination in the suit originally filed by SiRF against Global Locate on June 13 following a six-day trial in March in Washington, D.C. Broadcom acquired Global Locate in July 2007. The judge subsequently found that Broadcom didn’t infringe on SiRF’s intellectual property, and found one of the two patents in question to be invalid.

SiRF said it has petitioned the ITC to review those aspects of the initial determination that found that the valid patent was not infringed by Broadcom.

The intellectual property dispute goes back to 2006, when SiRF also took Global Locate to task in federal district court; it in turn counter-sued. Those suits were stayed pending the ITC ruling.

Broadcom also has its own claims against SiRF before the ITC, having filed six claims of patent infringement; that trial took place in April of 2008. An initial determination in that case, heard before Administrative Law Judge Carl Charneski, should come on Aug. 8, 2008, according to the company. Broadcom also filed a lawsuit in May 2008 in federal district court, claiming infringement of four patents.