Apple’s legal counsel, Donald Rosenberg, has been hired as Qualcomm’s new legal skipper reports the Union-Herald Tribune
Rosenberg spent just 10 months at Apple, stepping in at the iPod and computer company after predecessor Nancy Heinen left during the fallout from investigations of a stock option backdating scandal.
Before Apple, Rosenberg spent 30 years at IBM, where he served as general counsel and previously as assistant general counsel for litigation.
The litigation and crisis-management expertise will be of immediate use at Qualcomm, which is battling competitors over intellectual property around the world.
“We started a nationwide search in midsummer and Don was always at the top of that list,” said Bill Davidson, senior vice president of global marketing and investor relations for Qualcomm. “He matches up very well with us. He spent 30 years at IBM and has a lot of experience in antitrust and patents, a very broad background.”
Rosenberg replaces Lou Lupin, who resigned in mid-August after Qualcomm endured a string of legal setbacks. Carol Lam, a former U.S. attorney in San Diego who joined Qualcomm last year as a vice president, had been interim general counsel while the company looked for Lupin’s replacement.
Advertisement During Lupin’s tenure, Qualcomm was found by a federal judge to have knowingly failed to turn over thousands of relevant documents in a patent trial against Broadcom. Judge Rudi Brewster said Qualcomm not only concealed documents but also intentionally deceived a standards body.
Because of “exceptional” misconduct on Qualcomm’s part, Brewster ordered the company to pay Broadcom’s legal expenses, which could run as high as $10 million.
In addition, the San Diego cell phone technology company is fighting a U.S. International Trade Commission ban on new phone models that use the company’s wireless chips. The ban, partially on hold, was imposed after Qualcomm lost a patent dispute with Broadcom. The Irvine-based company seeks to compete with Qualcomm in the 3G high-speed mobile data market.
In another dispute between Qualcomm and Broadcom, a federal judge has tentatively doubled the damages Qualcomm owes from $19.6 million to $39.3 million.
U.S. District Court Judge James Selna also ordered that Qualcomm pay Broadcom’s attorney fees.
Apple said it will replace Rosenberg with Daniel Cooperman, who previously served as general counsel at Oracle. Rosenberg will join Qualcomm next month.
