QCOM isn't selling patents - they're selling products. Perhaps they're patents help provide them a differentior but few patents do it to the degree that they have for QCOM.
Gary, I don't have any desire to have a "tennis match" with you because you usually focus on the games that were played in the past, instead of looking forward to games played in a different court, at a different time and with different conditions.
But I must correct your misstatement about Qualcomm. A deep understanding of the company is not required to realize that Qualcomm does sell patents or more accurately, the rights to use their patents. Patent royalties are a significant revenue stream and, for practical purposes, have margins of 100%. Production or sale of a product is not required to realize licensing revenues. These royalties are the fastest growing segment of Qualcomms profits.
The value in Qualcomm's patents is they allow efficiencies in spectrum and cost of wireless communication that cannot be realized without using these patents. I am not familiar with 3Coms patent portfolio so I cannot speculate as to the value of their patents. But it is safe to assume that they have not invested the resources and capital in aquiring these patents if they did not expect a return on their efforts. While other companies, without a good understanding of IPR, have been known to waste a good deal of resources on worthless patents, I doubt 3Com falls into this category but all companies with large patent portfolios have some patents that are essentially worthless.
I wish I had more time to investigate 3Coms IPR, but the value that I see in 3Com lies in sales, marketing and distribution channels, brand recognition, product offerings, R&D capabilities and, of course, the Palm OS. Any other valuable IPR they may hold is a potentially very lucrative bonus.
Bux |
