The ITC's ruling, issued in June last year, applied to new phones developed subsequent to the ruling, and followed an earlier ITC finding that Qualcomm had infringed on Broadcom's patent. The companies that joined Qualcomm in the appeal included Kyocera Wireless, Motorola, LG Electronics and Palm, as well as wireless carriers AT&T Mobility and Sprint Nextel.

The patent in question, U.S. patent number 6,714,983, describes a technology that helps save battery life when a mobile phone can't find a wireless signal. It can be viewed by at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Web site.