Microtune Inc. fired yet another volley in its longstanding legal war with
Broadcom Corp., filing a suit claiming that the chip-making giant's cable-modem
strategy is a violation of anti-competitive and monopolistic conduct under the
Texas Anti-Trust Act.
The suit, filed in the District Court of Williamson County in Texas, charged
that Broadcom acted illegally in bundling its tuner with demodulator chips sold
for cable-modem manufacturers, thereby cutting Plano, Texas-based Microtune and
other competitors out of that market.
It seeks an injunction to halt Broadcom's product-bundling practice and
monetary damages.
The two companies have been keeping the lawyers busy for the past year,
including pending tit-for-tat patent-infringement suits over tuner and
radio-frequency technology.
Broadcom has also filed suit in the U.S. District Court's Northern California
District seeking to bar Microtune from building and selling devices that it said
infringe on patents regarding electrostatic discharge-protection circuits and
wireless technology.
