Rambling thoughts on an exciting day
I am very excited and hopeful based on IDCCs 8K saying that they are getting close to a negotiated settlement with Nokia. I am glad that they did not settle with Nokia prior to the ITC staff report. I've always felt IDCC has blinked when things got to the brink, settling very cheaply (10 - 20 cents on the dollar) instead of playing out their very strong hand. With the staff report in hand, both sides now have a much clearer understanding of the likely outcome. This should enable IDCC to get a fair settlement.
What is fair? It damn well better be a better deal for IDCC than LG. I think LG was a good and fair deal and I would've been very happy if all the rest had signed on similar terms BACK THEN. However MENS chose to play hardball and attacked IDCC in every way they could think of, with Nokia as the point man. There has to be a price paid to finally establish the precedent that if you come to the table early and negotiate in good faith you will get a fair deal. If you delay and fight there will be a pound of flesh extracted (along with an extra barrel of money) to compensate us for our huge amounts of time wasted, legal expenses and risk of judicial idiocy (see MOT case).
Should IDCC have disclosed the negotiations in the 8K? I've called Janet Point and left a message asking if it was required. If so, then that's that. If not, while it certainly has me walking on sunshine today, I'm wondering what the upside is. Yes, it is important to keep investors informed, but it seems it puts pressure on IDCC to get a deal done fairly soon. It would not surprise me to see Nokia try to embarrass IDCC management and use it as leverage. I'm pretty sure this management team, headed by Mr. Merritt, has experienced enough BS that they would not fall into such a trap, but having followed IDCC for so long, I can't rule it out.
This can truly be the watershed event we've been waiting for over these long years. If so, for me, the long wait will turn out to be a very good thing. I've believed very strongly in IDCC, thanks in large part to the technical and legal folks on this board who contribute so generously to our understanding. This has allowed me to ride out the price declines without panic, and I've been fortunate in that I've been able to add to my position over the years. But I'll be glad to say goodbye to the wonderful buying opportunities forever. I'm looking forward to some good selling opportunities in the future years.
Okay IDCC, this is your moment. Settle on your terms. You tried to play nice, and Nokia said 'drop dead', and Samsung said 'yeah, what Nokia said'. Get your deal or get the injunction. Prepayment discounts are only given for prepayments, not retroactively. Make it worth all the BS they've put you through. Here's a memo IDCC can send to Nokia.
Finally it is time for us to come to terms.
Understand that we expect to be fully and fairly compensated.
Create an offer that takes into account our extra expense in fighting your baseless challenges.
Know that we are not a paper tiger and will not be intimidated.
You have a final opportunity to settle with use on fair terms.
Otherwise we will take the ITC to the end and slap that injunction on you.
Until you sign the contract and your check clears we will continue our legal activity on all fronts.
Never again will we allow you or anyone else to take advantage of us.
Our position has never been stronger and it will continue to gain strength.
Keep on with your scorched earth tactics and you will pay the price.
I'll leave it up to you whether we do this the easy way or the hard way.
At long last you are negotiating seriously – don’t blow this last chance.
If you’re really perceptive you can see a special message contained in this suggested memo.
Frank
