InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[j70k]

IMO- The primary reason for going before the ITC is to level the playing field when a party is using another party's product or ipr WITHOUT paying. Infringement without embargo does not accomplish the goal of the ITC, which is settlement. All cases that come before the ITC have an element of FRAND inherently involved, so the real issue is infringement. Infringement without harm to the infringer does not give any immediacy to settlement. I believe that it is crystal clear to the ALJ exactly what SAM and NOK have been trying to do, and delaying this further, by sending the case to another court to decide FRAND, is an exercise in futility. All parties know that this will end, NOT by a rate decided by a court, but instead by settlement. The ALJ is well aware of the multitude of companies that have licenses with IDCC-is he going to say that they were all chumps and that a company with a checkered past like SAM has it right? My bet is that Judge Luckern will rule in our favor and that the attornies for SAM have told the company as much. The only question is, settlement before the decision or after. There is a strategic move by SAM to wait till after the decision, if NOK has not settled before, because it then puts NOK in a tough spot knowing the judge has ruled in favor of infringement and embargo. I don't believe that the rates will change post decision, like some do, but the '06 2g bargaining tool may disappear. Anyway, good luck to IDCC-just one way of looking at it.