Broadcom hits out at latest Qualcomm suit

Broadcom has hit back at claims by rival Qualcomm that it had misappropriated trade secrets and infringed the company's patents.

Qualcomm filed suit against Broadcom earlier this week over disputes relating to W-CDMA, the variant of 3G typically used in much of Europe.

According to Qualcomm, Broadcom has used Qualcomm's trade secrets to compete unfairly in the sales of W-CDMA chipsets.

Broadcom, however, has denied the accusation. "We believe that Qualcomm's claims are meritless and are surprised that these latest claims were not brought to our attention before they ran to court," a Broadcom spokesman said.

The company said the third legal action brought against them by Qualcomm comes in response to its own series of suits it has filed against the rival company. "This is Qualcomm's latest response to our effort to aggressively protect our intellectual property portfolio," he added.

The pair have been waging a series of litigation battles against each other since 2005, both filing a number of suits chiefly alleging infringement of numerous patents. Broadcom has also accused Qualcomm of violating antitrust laws.

"We don't expect this latest Qualcomm claim to materially change the litigation landscape," Broadcom's spokesman said.