NEOM is only in the driver's seat if they win. NEOM doesn't owe them money literally, and for that matter, Virgin does NOT owe NEOM a dime unless they were to fully litigate the matter and Virgin found liable. Nobody, myself included wants to see that. That said, they can agree to pay NEOM something via settlement which is what seems to be happening. If people are frustrated by a 3 week delay just imagine what 3 years of litigation would do. On top of that, what if NEOM got 2 years down the road in litigation and couldn't afford it anymore because nobody was paying them for Paperclick but were using their own version of it (knowing NEOM was bankrupting itslef).
As I understand it, NEOM's attorneys are working on a contingency, which, if true, I'm sure was one of the selling points to Virgin for seeking settlement. If you are Microsoft why not just wait to see if NEOM does bankrupt itself and then develop your own version of Paperclick. If NEOM is not around who is going to enforce the patents.
The lien concept is just a metaphor (is metaphor right-that stuff used to kick my butt in school)to neom's situation. Presumably nobody owes anyone money, NEOM included, but it just gives them too much baggage to be dealt with seriously. Think of it this way. If you are engaged in litigation and you try to seek a mortgage what respectable bank is going to deal with you, especially when that litigation involves what you want to use for collateral? THe bank is going to say just clean up that little mess and then we'll talk. Paperclick and the associated patents are NEOM's collateral to even be sitting at the same table with a Microsoft or PG, etc. Those companies are not going to spend millions on a marketing campaign with NEOM if they think they may lose the patents through bankruptcy or if they think every other ABC corp. is going to be developing its own version of the product.
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