Nokia Asks for Ban on Qualcomm Chip Imports

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 17 - Several developers of technology used in mobile phones are engaged in all-out hostilities over royalties and license fees on patents.

In the latest phase, Nokia, the mobile phone maker, said Friday that it had asked United States trade officials to intervene in an increasingly bitter dispute with Qualcomm, which makes computer chips for phones.

Nokia, based in Finland, has asked the International Trade Commission to bar import of phones into the United States that include Qualcomm chips that Nokia asserts violate its patents. Nokia said it was not being properly compensated for the use of its technology by Qualcomm, based in San Diego.

Nokia's move to seek government intervention comes two months after Broadcom, a rival chip maker, won a ruling from the International Trade Commission that Qualcomm had infringed on an important patent.

That decision gave Broadcom new ammunition in its negotiations with Qualcomm as well as with mobile phone carriers like Verizon Wireless that sell mobile phones based on Qualcomm chips.

"Nokia was likely emboldened by Broadcom's success," said Thomas Carpenter, an industry analyst with Hilliard Lyons, a securities firm.

"Both sides are doing every big thing they can legally to fight this battle," Mr. Carpenter said. "It definitely ups the stakes."

The dispute between Qualcomm and Nokia underscores an increasingly bitter conflict over who will profit from the huge sums of money being generated by the mobile phone industry.

Patent holders who have developed pertinent new technologies - from the delivery of video on phones to power management - are at odds over royalty licensing rates.

Qualcomm has suffered a handful of legal and regulatory setbacks, particularly with regard to its disagreements with Broadcom. At the same time, industry analysts said, Qualcomm remains in one of the most powerful patent positions in the industry.

The Nokia patent dispute involves technology used to improve performance of wireless devices, reduce product size and manufacturing costs, and increase battery life, Nokia said.

Qualcomm said it was reviewing Nokia's complaint and declined to comment.

Telecommunications industry analysts said that the dispute was not likely to lead to the barring of imports but, rather, was an escalation of tactics used by the parties as part of their negotiations over licensing fees.

In recent years, Nokia has paid Qualcomm around 0 million a quarter to license its chip technology, according to Paul Sagawa, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Company.

But the licensing agreement expired in April and Nokia thinks it should be paying a lower royalty rate because, it says, it controls important technology with its own patents.

Mr. Sagawa said he hoped that Qualcomm and Nokia would not engage in a protracted battle. "Both Nokia and Qualcomm understand that a lengthy litigation war is value-destroying, not just for themselves but for the industry as a whole."