> Under the EPC, and in particular its Article 52,[1] "programs for computers" are not regarded as inventions for the purpose of granting European patents,[2] but this exclusion from patentability only applies to the extent to which a European patent application or European patent relates to a computer program as such.[3] As a result of this partial exclusion, and despite the fact that the EPO subjects patent applications in this field to a much stricter scrutiny[4] when compared to their American counterpart, that does not mean that all inventions including some software are de jure not patentable.
Going back to the original question, I certainly wouldn't want to start an open source project knowing that Qualcomm might sue me for patent infringement. Defending their intellectual property is part of their core business strategy.
[1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_code