The Games Companies Play While Negotiating by Litigation and Playing Press Release Bingo
voop,
<< Nokia is now admitting that QUALCOMM does indeed have licensible IPR "essential to GSM..." >>
No. They are acknowledging that QUALCOMM is claiming that they have licensable GSM IP. They are not, however, in any way shape or fashion -- at least so far as we know, and it is highly unlikely they would do that, and nothing can be construed as such by reasonably intelligent human beings who are doing anything other than indulging wishful thinking -- admitting that the IP QUALCOMM has declared to be essential to the GSM standards is in fact essential.
That's two totally different animules and two different steps in a legal process.
Once we see a copy of the Nokia Delaware Court of Chancery filing which should be available on LexisNexis before too long, we can see, and possibly make value judgments about, what if anything they are admitting to which is highly unlikely to be very much of anything at this stage of the process ,a nd is likely to be more accusatory. One thing we also need to watch for is if Nokia moves to have the two patents QUALCOMM has claimed are essential and that QUALCOMM alleges Nokia is infringing, invalidated in the UK Chancery Court which is totally prepared to evaluate and rule on that.
So far we simply have two (separate) QUALCOMM 'press contacts' or 'spokespersons' (Bertha Agia and Jeremy James) imparting QUALCOMM's 'official' spin on this, on behalf of QUALCOMM, in (separate) e-mail correspondence to journalists -- and this despite the fact that QUALCOMM hasn't even seen the filing ...
"We have not seen Nokia’s complaint yet, and we are anxious to demonstrate that our more than 130 licensing agreements—which were voluntarily entered into after good-faith negotiations—are in compliance with FRAND requirements. Our licensing program is broad and intended to foster competition throughout the industry. This is Nokia’s desperate attempt to have the judicial system change what Nokia has agreed to. And it appears from their press release that Nokia now accepts our position that we have essential patents in the GSM family of products, something they have vehemently denied in the past."
Essentially (pun intended) we have press contacts fruitlessly parsing press releases, which is one step sillier than amateur patent attorneys who frequent financial message boards, parsing press releases.
Nokia spokesman Bill Plummer, VP for external affairs for Nokia in North America, added 'color' to Nokia's press release announcing the filing by commenting ...
"Qualcomm entered into a written contractual obligation with ETSI to license Qualcomm IPR declared essential for use in a standard to ETSI members on FRAND terms. Qualcomm belatedly declared certain patents as essential after standards had been set and significant investments had already been made within the industry. Qualcomm violated its ETSI obligations by refusing to negotiate a FRAND license royalty for the use of declared essential IPR, but instead sought to exclude Nokia from using the IPR through court actions seeking injunctions and exclusionary relief. ... Qualcomm has attempted to gain an unjustified advantage in negotiations by filing litigation that seeks injunctive or exclusionary relief. ... once FRAND terms are confirmed by the court, Qualcomm would be required to negotiate in good faith with Nokia under those terms."
... and what we have if we put notable smokesters as Bertha, Jeremy, and Bill, in a cocktail shaker is a concoction called SMOKE.
<< Is this tacit admission that QUALCOMM has the goods on the IPR side of this fight news or have I been dozing off in class? >>
Either dozing off in class or drinking to many locally mixed Hurricanes or Sazeracs before or after class.
[I favor the properly mixed Sazerac myself, and to get one I either need to be in NO or Darien CT, and if one of Bob Mitchum's sons isn't still running Fat Tuesday in Darien -- which may no longer exist -- then you probably can't get one there, which puts me back to Galatoire's or my favorite variation at Commander's Palace which I sure hope survived the devastation]
Best,
- Eric - |
