data Rox & Olddog:
I don't know what financial 'benefits' partnering generates for InterDigital, and I hope that it includes a 'Financial' benefit and not just a 'useage' benefit.
A 'Financial' benefit in my mind is where a company uses our solutions in their product(s) and we get paid for the use of our goods
A 'Useage' benefit in my mind is where we use someone's product in our product to make our work better, etc. We may, in turn, let the other company use our product to enhance the other company's product, hence, the 'partnership' benefits both parties.
Perhaps there may be some 'benefit' to us (or to them) if one party's solutions are more valuable then the other's solutions, which may result in a one-time payment or a periodic payment to the company with the more valuable solution.
Patnering may be no more than 'we need your stuff and you need our stuff to benefit both of us so 'Let's Partner'.
The lasst place I worked for was a data processor for banking solutions. The company developed certain banking products and licensed other products for our use. Currently, they have 'partnered' with 35 different companies.
Two of their 'partners' are a major communications company and a major operating software company. I know for a fact that they provide nothing to these companies; rather, they 'use' them for some of the tools they need for the banking solutions we used.
Two other companies they 'partner' with are two of them for check printing companies to allow our banking clients to order on line check orders. By 'linking' our banking clients and/or their customers, check orders were processed. The BANK got to add an 'up charge' to the cost of the check printing order, hence the bank 'had a financial benefit' from our 'partnering'.
Too bad it isn't all that simple with what IDCC is doing in their 'Partnering' with others, and we know they won't spell it all out like I did in my examples.
JMO
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