There is more on Qualcomm’s (NSDQ: QCOM) various patent battles in its conference call (transcript). Aside from the irony of apparently complaining that Broadcom is trying to do to Qualcomm what Qualcomm is trying to do to Nokia, (NYSE: NOK) there’s not a lot of change in the story. In answer to a question begging some hope of resolution, CEO Paul Jacobs said: “On the question about Nokia and whether there’s a ray of sunshine there, no, I would say that while we continue to speak with them on a fairly regular basis, there really has been no progress, we’re pretty far apart on being able to resolve our differences...Both sides continue to work it and will continue to do so, but I would not characterize it as a ray of sunshine at this point.”

Qualcomm also indicated it make sustain a cost as a result of supporting its partners and minimizing “any disruption that they may incur as a result of the litigation”. Although Qualcomm expects litigation expenses in 2008 to decrease modestly from the more than $200 million in 2007 (although still remain above $200 million) this added cost of supporting its partners is predicted to increase its total business defense costs by about 4 cents per share. Qualcomm wouldn’t reveal which partners would benefit from this, but admitted Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is a key partner.

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