Bizworld: Lawyers Defend Withholding of Papers in Qualcomm Patent Suit

Oct 13, 07:20 AM

Current Headlines: SAN DIEGO | Chipmaker Qualcomm Inc. dueled Friday in federal court with its hired attorneys over who shoulders the blame for what a judge called "gross misconduct on a massive scale" at a past trial.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Major is considering sanctions against 19 attorneys who represented Qualcomm in a patent lawsuit the cell phone chipmaker filed against rival Broadcom Corp. Qualcomm is the world's second-largest chipmaker for cell phones.

The judge said she was struggling to understand how Qualcomm and its lawyers committed "the fundamental and monumental error" of failing to share more than 200,000 pages of documents with Broadcom until after trial.

Joel Zeldin, an attorney for 11 of the lawyers, said Qualcomm hamstrung his defense by deciding to keep its communications with its attorneys confidential.

Qualcomm attorney William Boggs defended the company's decision to prevent disclosure of privileged communications with the hired lawyers, and he urged the judge not to fine them. Boggs called the failure to produce the thousands of documents an unintentional mistake.

Qualcomm already has been fined $8.5 million and ordered to pay Broadcom's attorney fees.

China

Trade surplus exceeds record

BEIJING | China's trade surplus for the first nine months of this year soared past the full-year record set in 2006 as exports in September rose nearly 23 percent, the government reported Friday, adding to pressure for faster Chinese action on its currency and market barriers.

The trade gap in September hit its fourth-highest monthly level on record, rising 56 percent over the year-earlier period to $23.9 billion, according to the Commerce Ministry.

That pushed the total for the first nine months of the year to $185 billion, the ministry said, breaking the 2006 full-year record of $177.5 billion.

pharmaceuticals

Nevada jury cuts $100M from award

RENO, Nev. | A jury on Friday slashed $100 million from a judgment against pharmaceutical giant Wyeth after it conceded a previous award was improper because it was intended to punish the company for its hormone replacement drugs.

Washoe District Judge Robert Perry instructed the five-man, two- woman jury to reconsider a $134.5 million compensatory award issued Wednesday after questions were raised about whether the judgment included punitive damages.

Perry said the matter was brought to his attention by a bailiff, who overheard discussion in the jury room.

After deliberating for about three hours, jurors on Friday awarded $35 million to three Nevada women for past and future medical expenses, as well as pain and suffering.

Northern Rock

Consortium makes offer to lender

LONDON | A consortium headed by billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group Ltd. is offering to rescue Northern Rock PLC by proposing a plan on Friday to inject cash into the struggling mortgage lender and rebrand it .

Under the proposal , Northern Rock would be renamed Virgi n Money in return for equity.

Virgin's offer is the first on the table for Northern Rock following speculation about several potential bids from private equity firms .

McDonald's

chain expects to top estimates

CHICAGO | McDonald's Corp.'s hot streak keeps on going. The world's largest fast-food chain said Friday its third-quarter profits will top Wall Street's estimates following another month of strong sales.

Global sales from its restaurants open more than a year rose 5.9 percent in September, led by a 12 percent gain in its Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa division. Stronger foreign currencies helped boost results.

McDonald's said it expects to earn 83 cents per share in the quarter, not counting an after-tax gain of 6 cents per share from the sale of its Boston Market franchise.

earnings

GE profit grows on strong sales

NEW HAVEN, Conn. | General Electric Co.'s profit rose 14 percent in the third quarter on strong global sales of airplane engines, locomotives and other equipment .

The industrial, finance and media conglomerate said Friday it earned $5.54 billion, or 54 cents per share, in the three months that ended Sept. 30, up from $4.87 billion, or 47 cents a share, a year ago.

GE took a $1.4 billion charge for its planned sale of a Japanese personal loan business and a mortgage business, while realizing a gain of $1.8 billion from the sale of its plastic business.

Earnings met analysts' expectations. Revenue rose 12 percent to $42.5 billion .

- From wire reports

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