In a move following a string of legal defeats to Broadcom Corp., a rival and a newcomer to the cell phone business, Qualcomm Inc. announced yesterday that its lead counsel, Lou Loupin, will be resigning. These defeats include a decision yesterday wherein a federal judge in Santa Ana ordered Qualcomm to pay $39.3 million for violating three Broadcom patents on cell phone technology, double what a jury awarded in May; the Bush administration"s upholding of a ban on imports of high-end cell phones that contain Qualcomm chips; and a San Diego federal judge"s excoriation of Qualcomm for "gross litigation misconduct" in another dispute with Broadcom, saying Qualcomm waived rights to enforce two patents on compressing video signals because it deliberately concealed them from an industry standard-setting group.
Lupin, whose resignation took effect immediately, did not respond to a phone message or e-mail at his Qualcomm address. A company spokeswoman, Bertha Agia, said Lupin resigned for personal reasons and was unavailable to comment. Carol Lam, one of eight federal prosecutors fired by the Bush administration this year, was named his interim replacement. Lam, 48, joined Qualcomm in February after 4 1/2 years as the federal government"s top prosecutor in San Diego. Following news of Lupin"s resignation, Qualcomm"s stock price rose 2.7%.