BUSINESS BRIEFING
A federal judge ordered Qualcomm to stop selling data chips that infringe on patents belonging to its smaller rival Broadcom. U.S. District Judge James Selna issued the ruling, the latest in a series of legal victories Broadcom scored over Qualcomm in the past year related to rights to technology for cellphones. The three patented chips use WCDMA technology, a small but fast-growing part of the wireless market used mostly in American T-Mobile and AT&T phones.</br></br>Selna ruled that Qualcomm can continue to sell other disputed chips in the United States until January 2009, but must pay royalties on those chips, which use a different technology and are used on Verizon and Sprint networks. He also allowed Qualcomm to use a patented Broadcom walkie-talkie technology until January 2009.</br></br>PHH Corp., a mortgage and auto-leasing company, scrapped a $1.8 billion sale to General Electric and Blackstone Group after the buyout firm said banks reneged on an agreement to lend the money. Blackstone's banks refused to finance the planned purchase of PHH's mortgage division, the private-equity company said. The lenders were J.P. Morgan and Lehman Brothers, according to a regulatory filing.</br></br>China, the world's biggest grain producer, has started to curb overseas sales of milled grain flour by issuing export permits, the latest in a series of measures to boost domestic supply and curb food inflation. The temporary changes, effective yesterday, will apply to flour milled from grains -- including wheat, corn and rice -- and will last for an undetermined period based on market conditions, the Ministry of Commerce said.</br></br>China is increasing measures to control inflation after food prices jumped almost 18.2 percent in November. It has begun to tax grain exports after removing incentives.