""proportionality of essential patents""
The term "ESSENTIAL PATENTS" sounds impressive. All it means is that a patent is essntial to meet the standard. So those who want to believe that "ESSENTIAL PATENTS" are all of high value simply design a standard in such a way that it is required that numerous pieces of intellectual property from the club creating the standard be required to build and use equipment that operates according to the standard. Thus the added intellectual property does not enable the standard --Instead the standard enables the intellectual property to be called "Essential". Thus the standard is written in such a way that it creates as much "Essential" intellectual property as possible for those writing the standard. For the most part, this "Essential" intellectual property was not at all essential before the standard was written because there were numerous ways to write the standard that could either include or omit most of this so called "ESSENTIAL" intellectual property while generating an excellent standard that worked well.
QCOM's intellectual property is not only "Essential", but it is also "NECESSARY" that it be included in the standard in order to write any workable standard at all. Most of the "Essential" intellectual property added by NOK and ERICY is only "ESSENTIAL" because it was purposfully written into the standard but not "NECESSARY" to write a perfectly fine and workable standard.
Thus the arguement is made that, if the WCDMA wireless standard were an automobile, then NOK, ERICY and others patents would be like the patents on the a) ashtray, b) the carpet and c) the radio. Whereas, QCOM's patents would be like the patents on the Engine, transmission and wheels. It would be quite possible to build a fine automobile (i.e. design a fine WCDMA standard) without a) an ashtray, b) a carpet or c) a radio but it would be impossible to build a fine autompbile (i.E. design a fine wireless standard) without a) an engine b) a transmission or wheels.
Seen in this way, the random IP designed into the WCDMA standard is simply in there in order to try to attempt to give NOK, ERICY et al a continuation of the monopoly that they has on GSM. Essentially they seek to use the inclusion of this random trash IP in the standard as a means of preventing competitors from building competing phones with the same cost as the good ole boys who supplied the random trash IP for the standard. The royalty that they wand to ask for this random trash IP would serve as a barrier to entry (an up frount profit penalty) for those not in the club that would love to build phones.
The problem that NOK, ERICY and club members have is that QCOM is saying that all of this random trash IP designed into the standard has a value of ZERO and that the QCOM IP that is NECESSARY to have any CDMA standard is worth 5%. This is simply not something that NOK and ERICY want to hear. It is simply not the way European monopolists want to work. If they are forced to accept QCOM's view of the world, they will not be able to pertetuate the monopoly that they created for GSN.
So now we hear NOK saying that NOK does not give pass through rights on their IP for ash trays carpets and radios. This is strictly a negotiating posture. After all, they have created this WCDMA standard filled with random, trash IP to the point that it took years and Moors law to get it to work at all. How can they admit that the standard was an overstuffed bag of random, trash IP. How can they give up royalties on this random, trash IP that they need in order to keep competitors from competing in the WCDMA space.
It is a tough situation for the Euronuts. Theu hope that the Euronut Commission will rescue them and their desired walled garden WCDMA monopoly.
Even worse, QCOM has some patents essential & NECESSARY to making the improvements made to good ole antique GSM work. Now QCOM says that, if our IP made antique GSM work 40% better, maybe QCOM deserves royalties on antique GSM of something less than 40% of the maximum 30% royalty monopoly (i.e. 0.40 x 30% = 12%) that the club built around Antique GSM. Now QCOM has suits against NOK in US and Britain and against Broadcom in US to enforce those patents on antique GSM.
WHAT TO DO?? Clearly things are not looking so good for NOK, ERICY and others' effort to recreate the walled GSM garden for WCDMA. Also QCOM is way ahead in HSPDA (remember that WCDMA is barely 3G) both in having chips for sale and in IP..
Also, QCOM is way ahead in OFDM chips and IP (which may be the 4G which replaces 3G. Also, QCOM is executing remarkably well -- kicking out new next generation ASICS at a fast pace -- and with market segmentation and pin compatibility. Also QCOM has a one chip low end CDMA asic that competed well with those inexpensive NOK GSM phones (which, buy the way are inexpensive partially because any would be competitor would have to overcome NOK, walled garden IP advantage.
Lesson, never let a Euronut monopolist get a monopoly. Always be aware that they will try to "CLAW BACK" any monopolies that they are about to lose. For example they will try to reach out beyond 100 years of general use of the word "PARMASAN" to denote a style of cheese and try to give a mpnopoly on this word to some little town in some little country in Euronut land. Similarly, when fased with losing their telecom monopoly, they will try to create a WCDMA standard packed with "RANDOM TRASH IP" and force would be competitors to pay royalties on this "RANDOM TRASH IP" because it is "ESSENTIAL" even though it is far from "NECESSARY".
The problem is that phone operators hare wise to the game. They have lost billions of Euros while NOK, ERICY et al bungled through the implementation of the WCDMA standard.
WHAT TO DO?
1) Stall --perhps you can catch up in HSPDA, FLASH OFDM and Market segmentation
2) Bribe officials to block competative standards in India by penalizing efficient and succeswful technology.
3) Fire sales on GSM networks to0 developing countries to slow the path toward 3G. Vendor finance these.
4) Bluster in public and trash talk QCOM
5) Get BRCM to sue in the US and cause a big disturbance
6) Try to stop or block QCOM's 4G standard using Flash OFDM
7) Stall re uping your royalty agreement with QCOM as long as possible ans trash talk this
8) Bluster and refuse QCOM low cost pass through on the RNDOM, TRASH IP you have packed into the WCDMA standard.
AI
