some need to read this again
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Charlie Anderson, Dougherty & Company - Analyst [11]
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Great. Thanks so much for taking my questions. I was wondering about sort of Huawei timing -- I was going through the 10-Q here, and it sounds like there are some actions --
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Patrick Van de Wille, InterDigital, Inc. - Chief Communications Officer [12]
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Charlie, I'm afraid you are cutting out.
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Charlie Anderson, Dougherty & Company - Analyst [13]
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Can you hear me now? Sorry -- so my question was around Huawei. I looked in the 10-Q that you guys asked for confirmation of the award in New York and then they asked for a moment in Paris. I wonder, is that just procedural? How should we think about how that will impact timing of payment, timing of final award as it relates to Huawei?
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Bill Merritt, InterDigital, Inc. - President and CEO [14]
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Sure. So I'd say it hasn't been uncommon for us of all to move to enforce awards and to have people seek to set aside awards. I don't want to say it's a perfunctory step but it happens pretty often. Many times you are just sort of protecting jurisdiction.
As you know from prior conversations with you, Charlie, arbitration awards are very, very difficult to set aside. The standard for review is such that absent fraud or something like that it's very difficult to undo what a good arbitration panel has done. So I don't really see the procedural jockeying that's going on now is affecting the substance of the award. Obviously we can never guarantee anything, but having been down this path in many arbitrations, I'm not particularly worried about that.
I think the fact that they are objecting to the award and we're moving to enforce it provides an environment for negotiations with them, and certainly that's what we would like to do with them, because all of these opportunities create an atmosphere where you can put in place agreements that are maybe more valuable to both parties. So I think we've got the right circumstances in place today to work with that. So at this point we are pleased and, as we always are, we will be just patient and work our way through it.
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Charlie Anderson, Dougherty & Company - Analyst [15]
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Could you give us any context, Bill, for how we should think about timing of the final payment -- or a payment?
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Bill Merritt, InterDigital, Inc. - President and CEO [16]
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It's ultimately payment is driven by the other party and people can make all sorts of decisions around that. Decisions obviously come with consequences, and so that can affect timing as well. So beyond that, I don't think, my sense, Charlie, is we are not in the first inning of a ballgame here. We are pretty far down into the later innings. And so, I think with what we've done so far, and I think generally the strength of our program and other factors, I would be hopeful that we can get something done in the shorter-term. No guarantees, but so far I'd say things are moving in a positive direction.
AI
