Breaking patent law? Not cool. Setting up a situation where there could be no new cell phone models on the market as a result? Even less cool. Here's the deal: back on May 29, a jury in California found that QUALCOMM had violated three of competitor Broadcom's chip patents, including one that allows cell phones to save power by going into standby when out of connection range. In response to this ruling, the International Trade Commission (ITC) banned the importation of any cell phone using QUALCOMM chips that violate Broadcom's patents. How big a deal is that, you ask? Well, most cell phone manufacturers use QUALCOMM chips, including makers of iPhone competitors like the RAZR2 (because I know you're curious, the iPhone will not be affected by the ban), which means that those phones will not hit the market as planned until QUALCOMM works out a deal with the ITC or Broadcom to fix the problem. Existing phones can continue to come into the US, but with manufacturers looking to deny Apple market share by launching new products, this ban could cause some major upheaval in the industry.

According to SignOnSanDiego.com, various analysts think the situation will work out quickly because so many major businesses are threatened by the lack of chips, although others warn this ban could result in manufacturers seeking new, more reliable suppliers. It would be very, very interesting if this ban ended up causing a delay in product launches, opening the field to the iPhone for just enough time for it to really take the market. I guess we'll see what happens.