Bidness ETC - ITC Clears Samsung and Qualcomm In Nvidia Case As IT Giant Donates A Million Dollar for New UT Engineering Centre

Case involves graphics processors used in Samsung’s Galaxy line of mobile devices.

Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) is likely to face a reprieve from the ongoing Nvidia Corp. case as a result of patent infringement accusations, which also involves Samsung as the party accused, though Qualcomm also had a bit of a part to play in it too.

The case involves the use of graphics processor by Samsung’s Galaxy line of mobile devices, and a victory in the case will result in the potential ban of mobile phones and other infringement stained processors.

Staff members of ITC announced their stance on Monday as the commission began their public hearing for the case. Due to confidential information, the recommendation was put in pretrial brief under a seal.

The recommendations give a significant advantage for Samsung and Qualcomm that gives them some moral boost in their quest to have the ruling overturned in their favor; though the final ruling will not be made till October.

If the ruling is in favor of Nvidia, which is the largest chip makers for the computer graphics cards, then it would hold out a potential of around $2 billion of royalty payments for its technology usage.

For Qualcomm, a win in this case will help it to ensure that it does not get itself entangled into another controversy. It would want to focus on its priorities on engaging itself in the Internet of Things (IoT) technology that it will venture on its own and not get involved into a partnership with the other firms who are also pursing the same, but face the risk of copyright infringement case, similar to this one.

Meanwhile, Qualcomm Inc has donated almost a million dollars to the University of Texas’ Cockrell School of Engineering for the development of its new Engineering Education and Research Centre. It will provide a new home for the UT Austin’s Wireless Networking and Communications Group, which opens by 2017.

The new place will be named the Qualcomm Wireless Networking and Communications Research Neighborhood, which will house 20 faculty associates and between 130-150 undergraduates and graduates, along with a number of researchers and partners.

Qualcomm’s stock price ended the day at $67.36, a gain of 0.75% from the previous day, probably as investors sound relatively bullish about the prospect of Qualcomm being ‘let off the hook’, whether the IT giant, intentionally or unintentionally, dragged itself into the case, and hoped that it served a lesson for the company to tread a careful path when it comes to partnerships.