A U.S. federal jury in Florida last week found fabless chip giant Qualcomm Inc. guilty of infringing several patents held by RF technology provider ParkerVision Inc.
According to ParkerVision, the jury in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida also found ParkerVision's patents valid in light of alleged prior art references identified by Qualcomm during the course of the trial there, which began Oct. 7.
Phase two of the trial is now underway. The same jury will be asked to determine the scope of the damages and whether Qualcomm willfully infringed the patents, which could lead to a substantially higher damage award.
ParkerVision (Jacksonville, Fla.) is believed to be seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.
"We are extremely pleased with the jury's verdict in this case and we look forward to presenting our damages and willfulness arguments over the coming days," said Jeffrey Parker, ParkerVision's CEO, in a statement.
Qualcomm did not immediately respond to request for comment on the jury's verdict. The company is likely to appeal the verdict and any significant damage award.
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