Qualcomm has signed a patent non-assertion agreement with GPS chipset supplier
SiRF Technology. The deal covers the patent portfolios of each semiconductor company.
The key to the deal are SiRF's 250 patents related to GPS location technologies. It also has more than 370 additional patent applications pending. This has become important for a mobile phone chip company such as
Qualcomm as GPS location technology gets implemented into the handset as a standard feature.
Qualcomm's silicon is used in many mobile phones, including
the first handset to run Google's Android linux-based operating system.
SiRf's patent portfolio includes some of the early GPS patents that SiRF acquired through its acquisition of Conexant's GPS business in 2003, and Motorola's GPS assets in 2005.
"We believe that this agreement between leading innovators of AGPS enabled location technology will help expand the market for location enabled products, services and content, while enabling each of us to compete in the market place based on product merits," said Kanwar Chadha, founder of SiRF Technology.