The appeals court also rejected Qualcomm's request for a new trial. The court ruled that a third patent was invalid.

"The appeals court's decision is a major victory for Broadcom in our ongoing effort to protect our Intellectual Property," Broadcom Vice President, Intellectual Property Litigation David Rosmann said.

Broadcom filed the infringement case in US District Court in Santa Ana, CA, in May 2005.

On May 29, 2007, a unanimous jury returned a verdict finding that Qualcomm infringed three Broadcom patents and awarded past damages to Broadcom.

Late last year, US District Court Judge James Selna issued an injunction against Qualcomm designed to stop the company from continuing its infringement of the three Broadcom patents.

In August 2008, Judge Selna found Qualcomm in contempt of his injunction by, among other things, failing to pay royalties to Broadcom on infringing QChat products.

Citing the "egregiousness" of Qualcomm's conduct, the court ordered Qualcomm to pay Broadcom the gross profits Qualcomm has earned on its infringing QChat products. Selna further ordered Qualcomm to pay Broadcom's attorneys' fees in connection with the contempt proceedings.

The two patents that the appeals court upheld are US Patent No. 5,657,317, which the jury found infringed by Qualcomm's EV-DO technology, and US Patent No. 6,389,010, which the jury found infringed by Qualcomm's QChat chips and software.

The third patent, held invalid, is US Patent No. 6,847,686, which relates to video processing technology.

The Santa Ana case is one of several cases in which Broadcom continues to pursue claims against Qualcomm regarding patent infringement, anti-competitive behavior and fraud issues.

Qualcomm has either lost or withdrawn all of the patent infringement cases it brought against Broadcom.

Broadcom Corporation is a major technology innovator and global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications.