Qualcomm is a Patent Troll
At least that’s my opinion after reading this news story from CNet about how Qualcomm is suing Nokia over patents.
I guess “Patent Troll” might not be the right word because Qualcomm actually does produce products–namely the chips that drive CDMA handsets. However, they are certainly acting in an anti-competitive manner if they are giving better terms to people who buy their chips. I’m all for giving Qualcomm their royalties on CDMA patents, but only if they license them in a way that doesn’t illegally tie them to their chips Of course, given the US Government’s “slap on the wrist” they gave Microsoft for similar behavior with computer manufacturers, I don’t see our government do anything about it.
At least this explains why Nokia doesn’t make any decent CDMA phones in the US. Nokia wants to use their own chips to do it and Qualcomm won’t allow them to without sticking it to Nokia.
