jai; nice thought...
"Time for a WIN-WIN deal like the Ericsson settlement so both sides will be happy."
Unfortunately, (playing the devil's advocate here again), there's more than just "both sides" involved. The consequences of any settlement with Nokia - at materially less than the very public amounts touted by IDCC in March 2003 and elsewhere since - could have serious repercussions with the third (and so far silent) party to such a settlement; i.e. investors who bought the "watershed" story.
I hope this doesn't come to pass but, if the final amount accepted by IDCC is much less than what the company has lead us to believe, then there are going to be a large number of investors claiming they were misled and looking for restitution. In this litigious age, I don't have to spell out what that could mean.
In defense, IDCC may claim that - at the time of the Ericsson settlement - they were convinced that Judge Sanders' adverse rulings had been negated with respect to Nokia. My thinking is that unless IDCC appeals and gets the June 3, 2004 ruling over-turned, there're new ground rules out there and a basis for IDCC to accept lower payments from Nokia, Samsung, and potentially others. (I fully accept that E and S/E signed up knowing the Sanders' rulings).
JMDAOAVMATG-ATM (Just my devil's advocate opinion and very much against the groundswell - at the moment), JK