Qualcomm
“All complainants have now withdrawn or indicated their intention to withdraw their complaints,” the European Commission said in a statement today. “In view of this, the commission doesnt consider it appropriate to invest further resources in this case.”
The end of the case means Qualcomm, the worlds biggest maker of chips for mobile phones, will avoid the possibility of being forced by the EU to cut royalty fees. In the most recent quarter, 74 percent of Qualcomms operating income came from technology licensing and 35 percent came from selling chips.
The commission, based in Brussels, began probing Qualcomms patent royalty rates for third generation or “3G” technology, after a 2005 complaint by Nokia Oyj, Broadcom Corp.,Texas Instruments Inc.,Ericsson AB and two others competitors. Nokia and Broadcom have already withdrawn their complaints after reaching settlements with San Diego-based Qualcomm.
Ericsson said in a statement on its Web site that it withdrew its complaint.
“The company will, however, continue its ongoing dialogue with competition authorities around the world in relation to Qualcomms licensing practices,” the company said.
The commission could restart the investigation if another patent holder files a complaint.
“The commission committed time and resources to this investigation in order to assess the complex body of evidence but has not as yet reached formal conclusions,” the EU regulator said in the statement.
Mathew Heim, a Qualcomm spokesman in Brussels, didnt immediately reply to a voice mail message.
The commissions case had faltered in recent months with EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes seeking an internal review after her in-house legal and economic teams said they opposed filing a complaint over the issue.