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Fast forward. Overture, another search engine company that no longer exists (Yahoo bought it) files a patent for a bidding system for ads on a search engine. The patent office says (I’m paraphrasing), “you can file patents on A, B, and C. But not D, E, and F. Because Ken Lang from Lycos filed those patents already.”
http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/31/why-google-might-be-going-to-0/
Why Google Might Be Going to $0
Overture/Yahoo goes on to successfully sue Google based on the patents they did win. [between $260 million and $290 million Google settled right before they went public but long before they achieved the bulk of their revenues.
Lycos goes on to being a barely breathing, comatose patient. Fast forward to 2011. Ken Lang buys his patents back from Lycos for almost nothing. He starts a company: I/P Engine. Two weeks ago he announced he was merging his company with a public company, Vringo (Nasdaq: VRNG). Because it’s Ken, I buy the stock although will buy more after this article is out and readers read this.
The company sues Google for a big percentage of those $67 billion in revenues plus future revenues. The claim: Google has willfully infringed on Vringo – I/P’s patents for sorting ads based on click-throughs. I remember almost 20 years ago when Ken was working on the software. “Useless!” I thought then. Their claim: $67 billion of Google’s revenues come from this patent. All of Google’s revenues going forward come from this patent. And every search engine which uses Google is allegedly infringing on the Vringo patent and is being sued.
Think: Interactive Corp (Nasdaq: IACI) with Ask.com. Think AOL. Think Target which internally uses Google’s technologies. Think Gannett, which uses Google’s technology and is also being sued. Think, eventually, thousands of Google’s customers who use AdSense.
Think: “willfully”. Why should you think that? Two reasons. Overture already sued Google. Google is aware of Yahoo/Overture’s patent history. The patent history officially stated that Ken Lang/Lycos already has patented some of this technology. What does “willfully” mean in legal terms? Triple damages.
[color=red][/color]
Why didn’t Lycos ever sue? After Lycos had its massive stroke and was left to die in a dirty hospital room with some uncaring nurse changing it’s bedpans twice a day, Google was STILL Lycos’s biggest customer. Why sue your biggest customer? Operating companies rarely sue other operating companies. Then there are countersuits, loss of revenues, and all sorts of ugly things. The breathing tube would’ve been pulled out of Lycos and it would’ve been left to die.
Think: NTP suing RIMM on patents. NTP had nothing going on other than the patents. Like Vringo/Innovate. NTP won over $600 million from RIMM once Research in Motion realized this is a serious issue and not one they can just chalk up to a bad nightmare.
(the beginning of the end for RIMM)
Guess who NTP’s lawyer was? Donald Stout. Guess who Vringo’s patent lawyer is? Donald Stout. Why is Donald Stout so good? He was an examiner at the US Patent Office. He knows patents. They announced all of this but nobody reads announcements of a small public company like Vringo. It’s hard enough figuring out how many pixels are on the screen of Apple’s amazng iPad 3.
Well, Google must have a defense? Even though their AdWords results are sorted by click-throughs in the way described by the patent maybe they sorted in a different way (a “work-around” of the patent), and didn’t infringe on the patent
Maybe: But look at Google economist Hal Varian describing their algorithm right here in this video. And compare with the patent claim filed in court by Vringo. You decide. But it looks like the exact same to me.
Maybe: But does Google want to risk losing ten billion dollars plus having all of their customers sued. The district the case is getting tried in rules 70% in favor of the plaintiff in patent cases. Most patent trials get settled on the court steps.
This Judicial District of VA is ADAMANT
about keeping dates and deadlines
so VRNG Management feels there should be NO DELAY in Trial Date of Oct. 16th
Before Oct. 16th Trial the top line $Revenue figures of Damages and Royalties will be made public - Management Feels from the CC - the Court must grant access
Vringo Announces Second Quarter Results and Recent Highlights
Have Faith in the Fact Institutions just took
on $32 Million at $3.25 !!!
they have alot more to lose than You/I
VRNG / Listen at the 24 Minute Mark James Altutcher
Altucher Continues To Believe Google Will Lose Pending Patent Infringement Case Against Vringo
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/altucher-continues-believe-google-lose-123401751.html
Press Release: Equity Briefing – 5 minutes ago
Investor, programmer, author, and Managing Director of Formula Capital James Altucher said in an interview with Stansberry & Associates Investment Research and Stansberry Radio on Thursday that he continues to believe that share prices for Vringo Inc. (VRNG) are poised to rise significantly thanks to a pending patent infringment case.
Vringo stock has been moving up on and off since Altucher first pointed out the firm`s patent lawsuit in his Tech Crunch article: "Why Google Might Go To $0."
"Iv`e done a lot of research on the case, Iv`e talked to patent lawyers, I`ve gone through all the dockets on the case, I`ve gone through all the history on the court and so on, my own personal opinion is that Google is going to lose this case," asserts Altucher. "They lost drastically on the Markman hearing, AOL has already settled part of the case... So Google is going to settle. The question is, how much are they going to settle for."
Vringo has the significant pending patent infringement cases against Google Inc. (GOOG), AOL, Inc. (AOL), IAC/InterActive Corp. (IACI), Target Corporation (TGT), and Gannett Co., Inc. (GCI) in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Talking specifically about the prospects for Vringo`s stock, Altucher predicts that the company is in position to make potentially $1 billion plus from a settlement with the internet giant. "Common sense suggests that Google is going to settle and not allow for their customers to be sued," explains Altucher.
Altucher has written six books on investing. His latest areI Was Blind But Now I See andFAQ ME.A recorded audio segment of his interview withStansberry Radio can be heard at the 24 minute mark at:
The Nokia Patent Deal With Vringo Is A Win All Around - Seeking
Alpha
August 9, 2012 by: Canary Cash
http://seekingalpha.com/article/796061-the-nokia-patent-deal-with-vringo-is-a-win-all-around?source=yahoo
A match made in Finland
Today Nokia Corporation (NOK) and Vringo, Inc. (VRNG) announced that Vringo would be buying a selection of high value patents from Nokia. At first I thought the deal seemed odd. I wondered why Vringo would pay a lump sum and then continue to share revenue with Nokia. As I pondered this, the reasoning became very clear.
By striking this deal Nokia is cashing in on its valuable patents, outsourcing the legal troubles and risk of not monetizing extensive and expensive R&D, all the while keeping a portion of any revenue generated from the patents sold. I believe this is a fantastic model and very bullish for both companies. For Vringo it is a fantastic opportunity to diversify and increase its IP revenue streams.
Going forward I am eager to see what kind of relationship comes of this initial deal. I could imagine a scenario where Nokia strikes many similar deals if Vringo generates adequate revenue for Nokia.
I think this a great move for both Vringo and Nokia.
Vringo grabs some solid patents to monetize over the long haul. In return Nokia gets a fair chunk of change, and a steady income stream if Vringo does well. It also gains a greater ability to focus on new innovations without having to focus on guarding or monetizing older innovations. I am a Nokia bull, I think it is making the right moves to create sustainable revenue, cut dead weight, and continue to innovate. This move highlights that and hints at greater things to come.
I was interested in Vringo because of its search advertising patents before, but not quite sold pending the outcome of the Google (GOOG) case. I have seen that as a somewhat binary event for it. Either Google pays scads of money and the hype is real or Vringo loses the case and the stock tanks. This development gives me confidence that Vringo has its sights on a sustainable future, and potentially has bigger fish to fry.
Disclosure: I am long NOK.
Additional disclosure: I may initiate a long position in VRNG in the next week.
Why Is Vringo Spending $31 Million On Hundreds of Nokia Patents? Ask Underdog
http://www.fastcompany.com/3000314/why-vringo-spending-31-million-hundreds-nokia-patents-ask-underdog
By Chuck Salter August 9, 2012
It's already gobbled up potentially lucrative intellectual property for its infringement suit against Google. Now Vringo goes patent shopping to fortify an IP strategy inspired by entertainment.
Vringo’s patent shopping spree continues. First the Mark Cuban-backed mobile tech company went after Google for patent infringement. Now Vringo has acquired 507 patents and applications from Nokia for $31 million in what we'll call the Underdog strategy. More on that shortly.
Take a moment to follow the bouncing patents. Vringo’s first foray into intellectual property acquisition was the recent merger with I/P Engine, or Innovate/Protect. That company had acquired 1990s patents, which cover “relevance filtering technology” used to rank search-engine results, from Lycos last year and promptly filed suit against Google and a handful of name-brand companies claiming infringement. Vringo’s stock soared last spring when news of the merger broke, particularly when Mark Cuban invested, becoming Vringo’s biggest shareholder. On Monday, AOL settled a portion of the suit for an undisclosed amount. As a sign of the interest in Vringo, the company raised the $31 million in 48 hours, without a bank, 90 percent of it coming from three investors.
Vringo’s unlikely source of inspiration is, believe it or not, the rhyming, at times clumsy, 1960s cartoon superhero who’d announce his presence, “There’s no need to fear. Underdog is here!” Vringo CEO Andrew Perlman used to work as senior vice president of digital media at Classic Media, which acquired the intellectual property to old TV characters (Underdog, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Casper the Friendly Ghost, and others) and helped develop new movies based on them. “Our strategy [at Vringo] mirrors that approach,” Perlman says. “That’s where we’re taking this thing.”
Instead of making movies based on old cartoon characters, though, Vringo plans to build new products off the old Nokia patents, most likely related to cellular infrastructure, and to generate revenue through licensing fees; 31 of the patents are “declared essential by Nokia to wireless communication standards" according to Vringo.
The IP strategy worked for Classic Media. Just last month, DreamWorks bought the company for $155 million. Underdog was true to his word.
[Image: Flickr user dno1967b]
Follow Chuck Salter on Twitter.
One Down, Google To Go As AOL Settles With Vringo In Patent Suit
By Chuck Salter
http://www.fastcompany.com/3000202/one-down-google-go-aol-settles-vringo-patent-suit
|
August 6, 2012
AOL has reached a settlement with Vringo, the mobile app company that sued for patent infringement last fall. What's that mean for primary target Google?
AOL has reached a settlement with Vringo, the mobile app company that sued for patent infringement last fall.
Google is still Vringo's primary target here, but the move could prove auspicious for Vringo. The amount wasn't disclosed, but investors reacted by driving up Vringo's stock price 20% in a few hours. Mark Cuban's the big winner--he became Vringo’s largest shareholder in April, as we previously reported.
Vringo, which is best known for its video ringtones, has only recently come into possession of the potentially lucrative intellectual property. The patents, which cover “relevance filtering technology” used to rank search-engine results, were developed by Ken Lang and Donald Kosak in the late 1990s, acquired by Lycos, and purchased last year by I/P Engine. Innovate/Protect, as it company was also known, merged with Vringo in late July.
Nearly a year ago, Innovate/Protect sued Google as well as its customers and partners AOL, Gannett, IAC, and Target. The suit contends that Google uses Lang and Kosak’s invention to deliver the appropriate ads alongside search results, which is the main driver of Google’s nearly $38 billion in annual revenue. Innovate/Protect also singled out AOL, charging that its Advertising.com, much like Google, relied on the patented technology. AOL still remains a defendant, however, because it, like the other companies, uses Google.
In litigation over intellectual property, a settlement hardly comes as a surprise. Patent suits, on the whole, are as predictable as romantic comedies despite the irresistible pull of the “will they or won’t they” tension. Just as star-crossed lovers eventually wind up together, the vast majority of parties settle and avoid a trial. Over the past 30 years, according to IPWatchDog, the number of patent trials has remained steady, at about 99 a year. But the number of cases has almost quadrupled, meaning a smaller percentage go to trial.
AOL’s decision to settle follows Vringo’s favorable ruling in the Markman hearing in Norfolk, Virginia, which we covered in June. But AOL is merely a subplot. It’s not the story that matters most.
[Image: Flickr user Dennis Wong]
__
Follow Chuck Salter on Twitter.
1. 08-01-2012 | 6:25 PM
http://www.fastcompany.com/1844439/vringo-cto-ken-lang-the-mystery-geek-at-the-center-of-the-google-patent-fight?partner=gnews
and
2. 06-08-2012 | 8:00 AM
http://www.fastcompany.com/1839561/a-rare-glimpse-inside-the-mysterious-world-of-search-engines-and-patent-suits
and
3. 04-17-2012 | 9:58 AM
http://www.fastcompany.com/1834401/shark-attack-mark-cubans-mysterious-investment-in-little-known-vringo
Good News ... spoke to VRNG Management
Shorts and IP plays have been hit last few weeks
"no material changes to speak of to account for the drop in pps"
Stay tuned for BIG news ...
the Damages report is coming soon - days away
"they are *more confident* than ever"
"if you liked VRNG in the $4s - than you will love it in the $3s"
"company feels there will be NO Change" in the Oct. Trial Date
again
"they are *more confident* than ever"
***Google Settlement Could Drive Vringo Shares Above $30 ***
http://seekingalpha.com/article/739841-google-settlement-could-drive-vringo-shares-above-30?source=yahoo
Seeking Alpha / (Mon July 23 9:16AM EDT)
For those of you new to this story, Vringo is suing Google (GOOG), AOL (AOL), Gannett (GCI), Target (TGT), and IAC (IACI) for patent infringement. There's a good chance Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo (YHOO), and many other tech giants will be facing Vringo lawsuits also. To keep things simple, this article focuses on the Google lawsuit. Based on the outcome of the recent Markman hearing as well as other factors that I will elaborate on below, I believe that Google will either settle pretrial, or Vringo will prevail in court on October 16th, 2012.
I began my Vringo journey earlier this year when I received a call from an investment banker who recommended I buy shares in the company. Since this was the same banker who suggested I buy VirnetX (VHC) when it was trading at $2 a share, I took his call seriously. (VirnetX is now trading between $35 to $40 a share.) Before I could finish my due diligence, however, the now famous Tech Crunch article came out and Vringo's stock price tripled. I was frustrated that I couldn't get in at $1, so I kept waiting for the share price to fall back. It never did.
I continued my due diligence, examining the claim charts, patents, management background, and court filings. I spent hours on the phone with numerous technical experts, my goal being to discover whether or not it would be worth establishing a position in Vringo. After more than 100 hours of thorough investigation, I became convinced that Vringo had a very good chance of prevailing over Google.
I want to own shares now because 90% of all cases settle pre-trial. If there is not a pretrial settlement, as we get closer to the trial date the share price should appreciate significantly. If Vringo wins this case, I would not be surprised to see Vringo shares trading above $30.
Here are the relevant facts along with my interpretations.
97% of Google's revenue in the United States comes from the company's search engines. During the last six years, Google has generated $67 billion while using Vringo patents. If Google is convicted of infringement, Vringo is entitled to damages, and possibly treble damages because the infringement appears to be willful. If we take an extremely conservative royalty rate of .5%, Vringo could receive $335 million, just for past infringement.
Okay, that's a big number, but we are only halfway there. If Vringo prevails, Google will have to pay ongoing future royalties for the next four years. Google is a much larger company now, and I estimate that over the next four years, Google will be generating US revenue in excess of $75 billion while using Vringo patents. Again, using the .5% royalty rate, Vringo stands to reap $375 million in future royalties.
That gives us two potential settlement figures: $335 million for past damages, and $375 million in future royalties, or a total of $710 million. Now let's translate these numbers into potential share price appreciation.
If we use VirnetX as an example, it received a $200 million judgment from Microsoft, of which it was able to net about $125 million. That one victory, combined with the recent Astra and Mitel (MITL) victories, as well as potential future victories, has created a recent market cap for VirnetX of around $1.875 billion. Once patents begin generating cash, their value increases dramatically, hence the increase in market cap for VirnetX.
If we take the VirnetX market cap, of $1.875 billion and divide by the $125 million that it received from Microsoft, we end up with a value multiplier of 15. (Cash received times value multiplier equals market cap.) In other words, the market is saying that VirnetX is now worth 15 times the net cash it received. This value multiplier is the premium the market assigns to VirnetX once the company has proven its patents could generate cash.
We can also look at this another way: VirnetX was trading at $2 a share before the Microsoft settlement, and is now trading between $30-$40 per share after the Microsoft, Astra, and Mitel settlements. The share price has appreciated by a factor of 15 to 20, in line with our value multiplier of 15.
The big question is how much of a value multiplier can we apply to Vringo in terms of estimating a new market cap? It's clear that once Vringo proves that its patents can generate licensing fees, the company's current market cap will be multiplied by some factor. Will it increase by a factor of 15, as was the case with VirnetX? Yes, it could, but to keep things extremely conservative, I am going to give Vringo a value multiplier of 5.
If Vringo prevails over Google, and receives $710 million, Vringo should net about $568 million (Vringo stated it would keep 80% of any settlement fees as pure profit.) With a value multiplier of 5, that would give Vringo a market cap of $2.84 billion (multiply $568 million times 5). With a market cap of $2.84 billion, using a total diluted share count of 81.5 million, the Vringo share price would be $34.8.
Okay, let's see what would happen if Vringo received a 1% royalty rate. For past infringement, Vringo would receive $670 million. For future infringement, the figure comes out to $750 million. The total infringement would be $1.42 billion of which Vringo should net 80%, or $1.13 billion.
Using a value multiplier of 5, the post settlement market cap would be $5.68 billion. That gives us a share price of about $70.
If you want to look at share price potential based on EPS, the numbers look even better. Using a .5% royalty rate, with earnings of $568 million, we have an EPS of $6.96. (divide $568 million by 81.5 million shares). With a PE of 10, that gives us a share price of $69.60. With a 1% royalty rate, we get a share price just under $140. Given the extremely variable nature of Vringo's future revenue stream, I realize the EPS model is not ideal, but it does give us a rough approximation.
In terms of figuring out what kind of a royalty rate Vringo could actually receive, I think it's good to focus on what VirnetX received. VirnetX offers a similar model to Vringo.
If you take a look at the VirnetX licensing rates, (scroll to page 28 of the link) you see that they range from between 1% and 5%. With regards to the recent VirnetX settlement with Mitel, VirnetX CEO Kendall Larsen had this to say: "We are pleased to have come to an agreement with Mitel on terms consistent with our VirnetX IP Licensing program." In other words, VirnetX is receiving somewhere between 1% and 5% from Mitel because the Mitel settlement is consistent with the VirnetX IP licensing program. I expect VirnetX to receive similar licensing fees from Apple (AAPL), Cisco (CSCO), Siemens (SI) and all the other defendants.
I am assigning Vringo a substantially lower royalty rate than VirnetX, as a worst-case scenario. If Vringo ends up receiving 1.5% or higher, we can all be pleasantly surprised.
Here's another thing to keep in mind; I am not the only one analyzing these numbers. Other analysts will be coming up with their own figures, and no matter how you look at it, the settlement potential is huge. I expect more analyst coverage within the next few weeks. This story is just too compelling to ignore. If other analysts come out with more aggressive royalty rates, imagine what will happen to the share price.
Everything depends on whether or not Vringo can win this case. Keep reading, and I will explain why I think Vringo will prevail. First off, I see five possible outcomes as a result of this lawsuit:
Number one: Vringo wins in court and receives damages and future royalties.
Number two: Google wins, and Vringo shares immediately lose most of their value.
Number three: Google buys Vringo before the trial.
Number four: Google settles with Vringo before the trial.
Number five: Microsoft, Yahoo, or any number of big players buy Vringo.
Now let's take a look at what this patent case is all about. This is one of the most inspiring IP stories I have ever seen. It centers around the incredibly successful search engine technology that Google is using to generate most of its revenue.
When you or I want to do a search on Google, we put in a keyword, and Google then performs two searches. An organic search is run to generate the non-ad search results (this is what you and I pay the most attention to), and a search of the ad system is run to generate actual advertisements that appear next to the organic results. Google makes no money from the organic search, but 97% of its revenue comes from the ads. (Vringo is contending that Google is infringing on both the organic search and the ad system.) High-quality ad ranking attracts advertisers which keeps them coming back and pleases end-users by delivering relevant information.
Google's search advertising system filters advertisements by using "quality score," which is a combination of advertisements' content relevance to a search query and click-through rates from prior users relative to that advertisement. This filtering technology is at the core of Vringo's patents. For a better understanding of "quality score," I recommend watching a video in which Google's chief economist, Hal Varian, explains it.
Before the search engine industry, Andrew Lang and Donald Kosak, the inventors of Vringo's patented software and former Lycos CTOs, conceived of improved technologies needed to produce better search results for users such as advertising search results. They adapted their filtering technique to apply to search systems and invented filtering systems and methods that filter items for content relevance to a search query or a wire, provide feedback information from prior users and in the filtering items, combined the provided feedback information with the content relevancy to determine whether or where an item should be ranked in a search result response to the query or a wire. This is the essence of the 420 and 664 patents. From my perspective, this is exactly what Google's search engine does.
Google and the other search engines use the Lang/Kosak relevance filtering technology by filtering and presenting search and search advertising results based on the combination of an item's content relevance to a search query and click-through rate from prior users relative to that item. This filtering technology is what makes search engines work so well and why search engines are able to generate such large revenue streams through advertising.
Prior to using Vringo's technology, Google tried two other methods, neither of which proved viable. It looks like Google's tremendous revenue stream is largely a result of switching to Vringo technology in 2005/2006. I can only speculate, but it seems that if Google had not begun using Vringo's patented technology, it may not have become the predominant search engine.
For a more in-depth understanding of this case, I definitely recommend that you read the complaint. It's fairly easy to understand, and is essential reading for anyone who is considering investing in Vringo.
I also recommend reading the 420 patent. This is not easy reading, but it's worth the effort.
Now let's look into the question of whether or not Google is willfully infringing. First off, the Vringo patents are among the most cited in this field of Internet search and are foundational to Internet search technology. Both AOL and Google have their own patents which cite the Vringo patents as art that existed prior to the time of filing. Both Google and AOL have been aware of the Vringo patents for quite some time.
The patent office has seen these patents many times. These are not patents that sat in the garage and collected dust for a decade. They are foundational patents that many people in a lot of these companies have seen for years.
Further to that point there is a particular portfolio of patents that received a lot of notoriety a few years ago. Those patents were originally filed by a company called Overture. Overture sued Google for patent infringement. Yahoo purchased Overture to continue the litigation against Google, and that also got Yahoo off the hook in terms of infringement. Those Overture patents in particular are interesting because the patent applications were initially rejected at the patent office because of Vringo's 420 patent. The Overture patents had to be trimmed back because of the 420 patent.
Many people have looked at these patents, and if there was a way to get them invalidated, we probably would've seen it or heard of it by now. For example in the Overture case, I'm sure Yahoo tried to get the 420 patent invalidated so they could proceed with the Overture patents. But they didn't.
For many years, Google and other tech heavyweights have filed their own patents which mentioned the Vringo patents. How could Google mention the Vringo patents without being aware of those patents? The more I look into this, the more it appears that Google's infringement was willful. No wonder Google has 50 attorneys working on this case.
To be conservative, my analysis does not include the assumption of willful infringement, however if willful infringement is proven, the settlement figures could be larger than what I've projected. More importantly, willful infringement makes a jury's decision to rule against Google, almost inevitable.
But this court case is not the end of the road for Vringo. In my opinion, most search engines, including Yahoo and Bing could be liable, and I believe we will see significant lawsuits in the future. I expect that both Yahoo and Microsoft are looking at Vringo as a takeover target. Not only could these companies remove their patent liabilities, but Vringo could provide phenomenal future revenue for both companies. A bidding war between Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google would not be surprising.
Here are some other facts that make this a phenomenal trade.
Number one: Google requested a re-exam for only one of the two patents in the lawsuit. This is very unusual because most of the time, defendants will automatically request re-exams for all patents involved. Why didn't Google request a re-exam for both patents? Apparently Google must have believed there was only one patent that had a chance of getting a re-exam. But Google was wrong there also. The patent office rejected Google's request because of various deficiencies. To me, this patent office rejection greatly affirms the strength of the Vringo patents.
Number two: The outcome of the recent Markman hearing couldn't have been better for Vringo. It was a clean sweep for Vringo, uncommon in Markman hearings. There was some misinformation circulating immediately following the hearing claiming that Vringo had won 4 claims and lost 2. Vringo did win 4 claims, but the other 2 were changed by the judge in ways that benefit Vringo.
Number three: About a week ago, Google's lawyers asked the judge to reconsider the Markman ruling. Google is basically telling the judge that he made a mistake. This is a desperate move on Google's part, and I anticipate the judge will deny Google's request. This could happen any day now and could provide a powerful catalyst for the share price.
Number four: The damages report from the expert witness is due in the next couple of weeks. This expert will be giving Vringo an estimate of the total dollar value for this case. No matter how you look at it, this will be a big number. The information may or may not be made public, but as is often the case, there could be leaks. What do you think will happen if the expert comes up with a $2 billion damages estimate? If a number like that hits the Street, Vringo shares could skyrocket.
Number five: Vringo made a very smart tactical decision when it decided to try the case in the Eastern District of Virginia. This particular court system is the fastest in the country. But more importantly, 67% of the rulings in IP cases favor the plaintiff.
Number six: In addition to Donald Lang and Andrew Kozak, Vringos' IP team has a couple of other heavyweights. First we have David Cohen, who left the Nokia Worldwide litigation team to join Vringo. He was uniquely responsible for the litigation strategy that extracted $1 billion from Apple.
We also have Vringo board member, Donald Stout, a cofounder of NTP and preeminent patent attorney. He conceived of and implemented the patent infringement case against Rimm (RIMM), which netted NTP over $600 million. One extremely important fact for shareholders is that Donald Stout was an examiner at the US patent office, and he knows patents like very few attorneys ever could.
But here's something that I think may be more important than anything else I've written in this article. Donald Stout was so impressed with Vringo's patent portfolio that he invested his own funds and currently owns over 1 million Vringo shares. He has the background and experience to make an informed decision about the quality of Vringo's patents, and his vote of confidence speaks volumes about the strength of Vringo's patents. His due diligence was greater than anything you or I could even come close to achieving. If a patent attorney and patent examiner such as Donald Stout buys Vringo shares, I am a buyer also.
For disclosure, disclaimer and SEC rule 17b disclosure information, please click here
Disclosure: I am long VRNG.
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