A federal judge in California has ruled that Qualcomm is allowed to sell chips infringing the Broadcom patents, until the end of January 2009 at least, while paying a mandatory royalty to Broadcom during that period.

The two companies have been at loggerheads over the patents throughout 2007, though Qualcomm has been on the losing side recently with the courts ruling against them and Bush deciding against a presidential intervention.

This ruling, reported by Reuters, means that Qualcomm can at least shift their stock of chips, but could be challenged by Broadcom depending on the royalties they receive.

It would seem that 2007 has not dulled Qualcomm's taste for court action, and this is unlikely to be the end of the dispute between the two companies. ®