Here are some thoughts from a long-time lurking attorney:
There have been several posts discussing exhibits indicating that ERICY considered licensing with IDCC years ago. IF any of those documents are admitted into evidence, the ERICY lawyers will, of course, put a very different spin on them: ERICY can allege that they spent months having their engineers examine the patents and issues, and after that thorough examination ERICY decided their products were not infringing.
Rarely are issues at trial clear -- each side will offer their own interpretation of the facts or exhibits that are admitted into evidence. Good lawyers have an amazing ability to convince jurors of how their interpretation is correct. Both sides have excellent lawyers.
The lawyers have spent years in "discovery" uncovering and dealing with many potential witnesses and thousands of documents. During the past few months they have been trying to craft their trial stategy, which is, in essence, a short story line that they believe they can present clearly to the jury. They will review all of the exhibits and decide which ones most clearly help them sell their "story" to the jury. (Trial lawyers are salesmen. Their product is a story, told by witneses and exhibits. Their customers are the jury.)
Remember, many here have said that MOT was successfull in the '95 litigation because they were able to confuse the jury. IDCC will be working very hard to KEEP THEIR STORY & PRESENTATION SIMPLE, relying on the Markman ruling, pretrial motions, and jury instructions to narrow the issues.
I expect that if this case goes to trial it will be hard for any of the IDCC investors to view the trial with objectivity. Each of us comes to this drama with our own prejudices, and we are predisposed to believe the witnesses and "proof" offered by IDCC.
Both ERICY and IDCC will do their best to choose jurors who will be receptive to their "story", but each of those jurors can be swayed by subtle things such as the style of presentation and appearance of each sides lawyers. A civil trial is decided by the preponderance of the evidence -- it is a "more likely than not" standard, far different from criminal trials where the standard is "proof beyond a reasonable doubt".
It is engaging to read all of the board posts, but we should keep in mind that we are inevitably dealing only some of the facts. Even if we had access to all of the sealed documents, there would be only a few among us with the legal, engineering or accounting skill to understand their implications. I applaud the effots of our board professionals who do their best to assist with our understanding of the facts. We have no way of knowing for sure which of the facts have been culled from the pile and are being relied upon by IDCC. The court rulings leading up to trial will start to put the picture into focus for the trial attorneys, but I suspect that those rulings will be sealed in order to avoid any possible tainting of the jury pool.
Like many others, I suspect that a settlement is still quite possible, if only because most cases do settle prior to trial, or before a verdict is reached.
I first encountered Bill D.'s web site in the early morning hours of Dec. 10th, 1999, and made my first investment on that amazing day. Since then I've been a regular reader of the RB club board, and now this board. I cannot claim any objectivity, though I try to pretend. This investment has been a phenomenal experience. If I "win" or "lose", I will certainly remember the energy and efforts of all you folks working toward the goal of understanding this company and this investment. I've learned a lot about myself along the way. I held allmost all my shares during the fall from $82, intoxicated with the rush from the meteoric rise. It has been easy to think that each month the dawn would come. I should have known better, but like many of you, I wanted to beleive.
If I can make it to Houston, I look forward to meeting many of you. I feel like I know many of you, and it would be a kick to match my mental images with your in-person personas.
Good luck to all.
Pago Pago
