Can BRCM bring the case again, this time including the downstream users? Not being a lawyer, I can only conjecture, but there is something called "res judicata," meaning that the matter has already been adjudicated. In other words, if BRCM had modified its original complaint, before a decision had been made in court, then it might have had a case, but not now.
If the above reasoning is true, then some of the QCOM customers, such as Verizon, might be able to obtain royalty refunds from BRCM. And if BRCM refused to negotiate on this point, well, if I were Verizon and others, I'd think twice about doing any further business with them.
This ruling, however, also shows how QCOM mismanaged its litigation initially and on appeal. They wasted a lot of shareholders assets pursuing a case that was flawed from square one, or at least from not having made their objections in a timely fashion, which might as well be square one.
Art |
