"Motorola suit as unavoidable"- I follow your logic and have had the exact same thoughts myself, especially if Nok and Ericy tacitly agree to not set the 3G rate and hope for a permanent 3G rate void due to a standoff by all the potentially triggering OEMs.
Furthermore, IDCC would (and should) probably wait until after we have NOK and Samsung paying for 2G before going into attack mode against MOT. I do beleive that MOT will end up paying for 3G, despite it's prior legal victory and history of not paying for 2G.
However, I also see 2 mitigating factors that might come into play to cause Ericy or NOK to voluntarily agree to a rate for 3G:
(1) If NOK has (or will) learn anything, it is that it is NOT in NOK's interest to let other (competitive) companies set their license royalty rates. Their assumption that all things will be equal is not necessarily accurate, especially since the OEMs have different product mixes, handsets and infrastructure are treated differently, etc. so all things are not equal when it comes to paying for IPR.
(2) The cost of the royalty overhang due to not licensing needed technology in a timely manner can be severe. If an OEM has to pay for IPR in the end, then it would seem to be in their interest to establish the needed license (and rates) PRIOR to shipping. Otherwise, the OEM commits to a selling price but their costs are not all defined. It should be in their strong interest to firmly establish all their costs, including IPR costs, so that they can then pass all these costs through to customers. Some argue that Ericy got off light by delaying their 2G license payments to IDCC, however, this is largely due to Ericy being on the brink of bankruptcy, some potentially adverse rulings by Judge Sanders, the time delay from being in court instead of arbitration, and some "imperitive" so that all these factors were working against IDCC. None of these factors are present when it comes to 3G and NOK. Perhaps this is why NOK is desperately trying to gain access to Judge Sanders' rulings. Even so, none of the other significant factors are in NOK's favor.
I can understand why NOK structured their license the way they did i.e. let other companies set the rates for NOK since this structure essentially guarantees them that NOK will NOT be sued for infringement. However, NOK must be learning that this structure is truly NOT in their best interests for the reasons above. And, when NOK's desperate effort to get the rulings by Judge Sanders fails, I hope they will see the light that no factors are in NOK's favor and they will take control of their costs and settle with IDCC. Of course, they might just run the process through completion of arbitration, but again, in that case, they run the risk of arbitrators setting a 3G rate also (per IDCC's request), and again, I do hope that NOK will see it is in their best interest for NOK to set all the terms of its license with IDCC and therefore reach an agreement on all rates directly with IDCC.
Your thoughts?
Regards,
Corp_Buyer
AI
