If the Federal court was inclined to rule WDDD's patents invalid she would have issued the ruling and disposed of this case not agree to stay it and then kill it after a PTAB appeal. That is a ridiculous assumption.
It's amazing what someone coming in with a bunch of bold and all-caps with over-the-top statements can do. But I'm extremely glad we've had this discourse the past couple of days. I, for one, have learned/confirmed/been reminded of the following (in order of importance, IMO):
PROs
1) The six patents we have left are valid.
2) World's patents are non-combinatory, meaning that they do not simply combine the value of other patents and take advantage of "fake IP." WDDD's patents are technical solution patents that were the original for the technology in play.
3) Susman Godfrey's contingent involvement. Prevents Activision from pulling out "big boy tricks" to eliminate WDDD. The fact that such a prominent boutique law firm took on a company with $86K in cash and $91K in total assets on contingency is pretty amazing when you think about it. They literally have everything to lose. WDDD has a $91K patent company to lose.
4) The VirnetX case applies more heavily to WDDD because they also had software patents that were non-combinatory, in which the judge validated the patents and awarded further trial.
5) In general, the MA court has ruled favorably for patent holders in 101 cases.
6) The GOOG v. VRNG case, in which 101 was invoked to kill VRNG's patents, involved patents that were both combinatory and not technical solution patents. VRNG's patents were marketing/advertising-related.
7) There are at least tens of cases (posted here) where 101 is invoked as an argument by the defendant and fails. Many times it's simply used to "throw **** at the wall and hope something sticks" and to delay the legal process. Yet VRNG was the only big name we've seen so far where it stuck, and the judges went out of their way to recommend it to GOOG.
8) WDDD's equity in MRMD provides a true "floor."
9) The Wifi One case - set to rule fairly soon? - could be a catalyst to set a $0.10 floor for us if a decently-positive ruling is made. These could literally be the last weeks/months to get in at sub-$0.10 until after trial.
10) The judges Alpha has pointed to aren't "patent killers," but are more likely to rule against IP as of history. But nowhere near a slam dunk even if one of them happens to be on the case.
11) Chance of having even one of those judges on the case is unlikely.
12) Getting closer and closer to trial, as arguments should be done by October, and then roughly 16-18 months until real action. Compared to how long we have been waiting, this stock is now in the "short to intermediate" term in my view.
CONs
1) One or two of the patent-hostile judges could send the PPS closer to the real "floor." And would reduce the chance of a positive outcome. The court system has the ability to "haphazardly" - actually not haphazardly at all - select judges for a specific case. And if the courts want to shut WDDD down, they likely can. The stock is reduced to the value of the MRMD equity in the short-term as WDDD ponders future procession. HOWEVER, the judges aren't known until the day of the trial, so if the stock is going to $0.005 because of the judges, it was going there anyway.
2) Most patent plays do not end up with a favorable outcome. But as Patent Plays has elegantly stated, many of the cases in the related field of technology have fared better.
3) $290,000 of notes payabble are in default. Going to need to dilute (issue additional shares), or sell of some of MRMD. The 10-Q mentions an offering in the 10-Q or proceeds from the litigation, which isn't going to happen, and doesn't mention MRMD sale. Either way, will decrease equity in the short-term. Still fairly trivial as a % of market cap.
4) 101 is still in play as a risk, although Alpha has only brought up GOOG v. VRNG in this regard, in which the types of patents in play were completely different, as described above.
CONCLUSION
Alpha came here with good intentions (it seems from his initial posts) and within days was incredibly hostile to many members of this board. As someone standing on the outside reading, I knew he had two decently-valid points, but when pushed on them for more proof/reasoning, he got incredibly defensive and angry.
All in all, the risks he promoted were real, but definitely mitigated by a lot of information others have posted here.The rewards here, based on great work by Patent Plays, Data Stream, and others, greatly outweigh the risks. There may be legal moves made that are unforeseen as of now that will have many of us on the losing side,
but that's the risk you take with a penny stock.
