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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM)
QCOM 159.42-1.2%Jan 16 3:59 PM EST
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To: Rich Bloem who wrote (134907)7/22/2004 8:34:42 PM
From: Art Bechhoefer  Read Replies (1) of 152472
 
Rich, expiration of QCOM CDMA patents is similar to expiration of drug patents. There is always the possibility that some company will eventually come up with a generic CDMA design lacking many modern features but still able to be used for, say, voice only communication. The design may be based on older QCOM patents that have expired. But the product using older designs or older style chipsets will still have to compete with more recent QCOM patents.

Can you imagine someone trying to sell a decent wireless phone that DOESN'T have the low current draw of RadioOne chips, or that doesn't have position location or many other features now taken almost for granted? Do you remember the first QUALCOMM-SONY phones that got really hot when you used them?

A good example in the drug sector is what happened when the patent for Zantac expired. Zantac, patented by Glaxo, was for many years the world's largest selling drug and the treatment of choice for ulcers. Now it competes with many generics, including drugs that are chemically the same as Zantac but made in India or other low cost places and sold for a fraction of what Zantac used to cost. However, Zantac is still a big seller, even though there are many newer drugs that prevent not only ulcers but the acid stomach and acid reflux that often lead to ulcers. And there are also drugs that attack the bacteria that are now known to cause ulcers.

What we should worry about is not patent expiration but the continued creation of new patentable processes that will help QUALCOMM maintain its competitive advantage.

Art
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