Qualcomm Inc v. Broadcom Corp.

Facts

Plaintiff Qualcomm sued Defendant Broadcom for patent infringement on two of Qualcomm’s patents. Defendant Broadcom answered alleging the affirmative response that the patents were unenforceable due to waiver. Defendant Broadcom argued that waiver was based on Plaintiff Qualcomm’s participation in the Joint Video Team (JVT) in 2002 and the beginning of 2003. Plaintiff Qualcomm’s participation in the JVT would have made its suit null. Plaintiff Qualcomm denied any involvement in the JVT before December 2003 and claimed it had no documentation or evidence relating to its involvement prior to then. During depositions, Qualcomm representatives again denied the company’s involvement in the JVT despite Defendant Broadcom producing December 2002 communication to a Qualcomm email address suggesting Qualcomm was involved in the JVT. When preparing its witnesses for trial, an attorney for Plaintiff Qualcomm found 21 emails on an employee’s computer that were addressed to JVT email groups, but the attorney did not inform Defendant Broadcom’s attorneys of his finding. This information was later revealed during cross-examination. The jury found in favor of Defendant Broadcom with respect to Plaintiff Qualcomm’s waiver. After trial Qualcomm’s attorneys found 46,000 electronic documents directly related to the case and that basically confirmed Qualcomm’s involvement in the JVT earlier than December 2003 just as defendant Broadcom contended. The court found that Qualcomm actively concealed the electronic documents during discovery and trial and thereafter awarded attorneys fees and a final fee award of $8,568,633.24 to Defendant Broadcom.