Michael and Thread: One way to interpret the Lexar filing is that if the company goes public and raises sufficient cash, it will be able to settle the patent suit, or at least make some payments if there is a judgment against it. Of course, the shareholders will lose, but I'm willing to bet that few will read the fine print close enough to see the danger to their investment. Once the company is public and a judgment goes against them, the company executives will probably just take their high salaries and walk away from the mess.
Meanwhile, there is no need for SanDisk to get a court order forcing Lexar to stop producing anything that may infringe, since the demand for CF is so strong that SNDK can't even meet that demand, even with Lexar in business. Anything Lexar gets from products that infringe just adds to the damages. Note also that if SNDK proves WILLFUL infringement, it means automatic treble damages. Even though I believe SNDK shares have gotten a bit high in this market, based on all the favorable news on demand, new products, stock split, etc., I think SNDK has a good chance of getting treble damages, in which case the stock is still dirt cheap.
Art |
