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Hardball

05/19/05 4:17 PM

#107940 RE: nicmar #107939

NIcmar: Good Post, Particularly Agree About NOK NOT hiring or firing IDCC personell. That is the most absurd thing people posted in the wake of the HG and R.I.P firings. Well maybe equally absurd was saying this was handled well.

Unless there was a settlement that involved a merger, if IDCC EVER fired a CEO and/or COO because an adverse party in litigation demanded it, then they might as well just close up shop and all become doormats.

As to settlement vs award, I tend to think award, 2G only (that's all that is at issue) but that doesn't preclude settlement talks using the award as a starting point, negotiating point.

I think it is important, VERY important for IDCC to just win outright and big. Unless there is some weakness in their position that I'm unaware of which augers for settlement, a settlement like the ERICy settlement can do more damage than good. Rather than being a "watershed event" triggering subsequent infringers to license and pay as many expected (me included) I think it signalled real weakness.

IDCC needs a big win to show everyone that we can win. If after a big arb award for 2G they settle with NOK for 3G and perhaps discount the 2G award, that might make sense--but too much discount sends the wrong signal. Of course, I am NOT saying that we would NEED to settle 2G with any discount following an arb award, but if we get a global settlement and perhaps a new business relationship with NOK going forward, that would be a great thing--what we don't need is ten or twenty years of litigation over 3G and another five over 2G. We need to get the big manufacturers licensed and paying and producing a steady revenue stream which has SOME predictability to it, and then to focus on R&D of IP for 4G and beyond...

Oh yeah one more thing. I really don't see how the firing was handled well. Yeah I think it was a good thing. But the timing sucked and IF it really was in the works, I still find it incomprehensible how the sudden nature of it and obvious superficial bs "explanation" was handled well. It was either sudden and unexpeted and still could have been handled better OR it was in the works and should be studied in business schools as a model of how not to handle such an event.

JMHO of course!


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badgerkid

05/19/05 4:29 PM

#107945 RE: nicmar #107939

Nicmar, Howard's release could easily be related to how he handled Nokia over the years. Merritt only stated that his release had nothing to do with the arbitration.

Merritt stated in the CC:

"Now, I can assure you that the management change had nothing to do with the Nokia arbitration. That process continues. As we reported earlier this week, we have received no decision from the panel nor any indication as to what the decision could be."

IMO, Merritt only acknowledged that Howard's release was not tied to an outcome from the arbitration because they didn't know what that was yet. Merritt may have only been trying to calm investors' fears that a negative result had occurred in arbitration. He at no point suggested that it was not somewhat tied to Nokia in general.

If there was any hope for a settlement, IMO, Howard had to be out of the way to reach a settlement. I'm not holding my breath either way because we will have a result very soon. But going forward, a change in management at Interdigital made sense.

A negotiated settlement that can be structured as a win-win is typically far better than a mandated award because it allows for easier future negotiations.

I'm still long shares and strong in my conviction that a good result is coming soon: a solid arbitration award, or an equally solid settlement that is beneficial to Interdigital's shareholders.

OAO



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georgebailey

05/19/05 4:31 PM

#107946 RE: nicmar #107939

nic-they didn't say the firing was not related to Nokia, they said it wasn't related to advance knowledge of an arbitration result. Big difference.

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GE_Jim

05/21/05 7:02 PM

#108197 RE: nicmar #107939

ot Nic, good to hear you may start up some charting action .

“I may even go on line with JimCharts charts.. "shudder" .. .. Nic”

Thought I should help you with a head start here. The chart below has EVERYTHING you need to know about the future direction. It’s a no brainer except for the possible problem with the 2nd dotted blue line. Thats the killer in here, watch that one like a hawk.


http://www.ttrader.com/mycharts/display.php?p=34084&u=gejim&a=lightcharts&id=

And no need to thank me, figure it's the least I can do.