Here is a very basic breakdown of what is happening with UOIP
The court just decided in favor of UOIP/Chanbond and dismissed the RPX appeal. RPX is not one of cable companies. Their business as I understand it is to buy up patents and also initiate IPRs to get patents declared unpatentable. Companies subscribe to their service to use all the patents they have bought and also so they will search and buy or start IPRs on any patents that could pose a problem to their subscribers. The cable companies may not be subscribers at all but the patents are something RPX thought they could get declared invalid which would look very good for their business, saving 13 major cable companies from a lawsuit.
Neither Cisco or RPX is a defendant in the actual lawsuit. RPX has an interest because of the reasons above and Cisco has an interest because they sell the cable companies the equipment that allows them to infringe on the patent.
Keep in mind these cases we are talking about are not the actual lawsuit they are IPRs with the Patent board.
When a company gets sued for patent infringement very often the first step they take is to try to get the patent declared invalid. If it is declared invalid then the lawsuit will obviously be dropped. This is what Cisco and RPX have been doing. They filed 8 different IPRs against the 3 patents. Each IPR has a different reason they think it should be declared invalid. They have now lost 7 of the 8 without any further available action for those 7. We have the last Cisco one but also keep in mind that one is for only 1 of the 3 patents. The other 2 are valid with no chance of any further IPRs.
So the IPRs are deciding if the patents are valid. The actual lawsuit is about whether the cable companies are infringing on those patents.
Technically, if UOIP wins all 8 IPRs the trial could still go forward. However, it is pretty clear that the cable companies are infringing as long as the patents are valid.
All the IPR wins are also admissible in court. It would be a stupid move for the cable companies to go to trial at that point they should want to settle.
Hope this helps!
All of my posts are my opinion only and are not meant to be investment advice.
