Loop... follow the word ALL" as in all-encompassing... This is clear as MUD
2002: "The objective was to establish a benchmark for "all" W-CDMA patent holders to achieve fair and reasonable rates - a move the companies said would enable a cumulative royalty rate for W-CDMA at a "modest, single-digit level".
Translation: maximum cumulative royalties for ALL WCDMA <=9.9%, regardless of # cited of patent pools. The report identifies two separate possibilities: "5% or less and single-digit". ALL cumulative royalties could have been contained under 10%. However, the 3rd and 4th largest contributors refused to play ball. The cabal wanted their slice of the pie, along with across the board industry support in the varied standards to avoid the anti-trust price fixing issues wrt: maximum cumulative caps.
The Europeans and Japanese distrusted both Qualcomm and Interdigital, either able to make the case urging the DOJ and FTC to object to the Japanese/European position. Both continents were targeting future 3G mobile device sales benefiting manufacturers. Conversely, Qualcomm and Interdigital were in the R&D business, targeting future royalty licensing sales as non-manufacturers, primarily from European/Asian hardware providers.
Don't be fooled by all the legal hocus pocus put out to muddy the waters.
The hardware alliance needed their own regulators (Japan/EC)to provide a maximum royalty cap anti-trust exemption. The GNP's of two non-American continents would become the primary beneficiary of future 3G hardware device sales, exacerbated by high3G spectrum fees paid by operators. Climb aboard, said the 3G hardware cabal to the soon to be 3G operators and we'll devise a plan.
Press release timings were critical in this regard. The one thing the hardware guys didn't want to do was the rock the boat by ticking off #'s 3 and #4 (Q&I), at least not until AFTER the DOJ made its decision.
Focusing strictly on WCDMA, two cumulative cap versions emerged: one pro-competitive the latter anti-competitive. The DOJ bought into the pro-competitive hardware position, and if you read closely, slipped in pro-competitive application developer in place of R&D developer in press release. Having been an application developer myself, I didn't catch on until well into compiling the report? In any event, after three years going back and forth, the DOJ buys into a simultaneous dual running pro-competitive and anti-competitive maximum cumulative royalty capping schemes.
The DOJ wisely covered their tracks by agreeing with the EC that participation in maximum cumulative patent pools was OPTIONAL. That being the case, the hardware cabal with the regulators blessing had to be extremely careful not to tip their hand as to how 3G FRAND royalties from the two U.S. dissenters would be contained within what we now know are two separate caps.
Interdigital is still reeling from Bait and Switch antics by the hardware cabal,as evidenced by ZERO remuneration to Interdigital from Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola, and certain others after eight years of sustained Nokia litigations.
In summary, ALL patent holders included both Qualcomm and Interdigital, who both refused to "participate" in either of two maximum cumulative 3G WCDMA royalty capping schemes that co-existed.
P.S. And let's not forget, unfair trade (anti)trumps fair trade (pro). What happened to Qualcomm and is now happening to Interdigital is living proof.
eom
AI
Market Data 
Markets 
