SAN DIEGO - The billionaire founders of feuding technology companies Qualcomm Inc. and Broadcom Inc. failed to reach a settlement Wednesday on a number of lawsuits during a daylong face-off in federal court.
Both sides said no agreement was struck but declined further comment after the closed-door negotiations, citing an order by U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony J. Battaglia against discussing the matter outside chambers.
Battaglia ordered Broadcom chairman Henry Samueli and Qualcomm chairman Irwin Jacobs to appear for the high-level talks after determining that only a meeting of principals offered any hope of settling a clutch of lawsuits over wireless technology patents.
Battaglia was expected to issue an order later this week regarding future court dates.
Samueli and Jacobs looked relaxed earlier in the day as they entered Battaglia's chambers. Each was surrounded by his own posse of dark-suited attorneys.
"You'll just have to see if I'm smiling or frowning when we come out," Samueli said.
The rival chip makers have 10 suits and countersuits pending in courts from California to Europe over trade and patent issues relating to technologies that power cell phones, Bluetooth devices and wireless Internet equipment.
Lawyers for both companies said before the conference they did not anticipate reaching a settlement.
San Diego-based Qualcomm, the world's second-largest maker of cell phone chips, holds patents on technology used in high-speed cellular telephone networks and licenses its use.
Broadcom, based in Irvine, contends that Qualcomm's licensing practices are unfair and violate antitrust laws. Broadcom, which has in the past focused on chips for TV cable boxes, is now trying to expand into the cell phone market and asserts Qualcomm is infringing on 18 of its patents.
Qualcomm claims Broadcom is infringing on 10 of its patents to create products using knowledge of stolen technical specifications.
"Broadcom just wants to get in our way so they can get into the business," said Bill Sailer, senior vice president and legal counsel for Qualcomm.
On Monday, a federal judge refused to bar Broadcom from selling its newest cell phone processor despite legal claims by Qualcomm that the technology was stolen. An Oct. 27 hearing was scheduled concerning a limited injunction.
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