DaveMG, all: IPR, patent pooling and royalty rates: UMTS body seeks accords to keeps carrier costs under control in 3G deployment. See URL (thanks, slacker):
techweb.com
Well, we're having one fine day, almost vintage Holy War hagfish style. Under assault from cancer clinicians conclusions on cellular (GSM?) clutches on our cerebral cortex, a nosediving Naz and uppity UMTS spin on sanctity of contract, not to mention LU's GSM village green preservation society (Kinks, circa 1968).
The UMTS story reporter had quite a mouthful to say, including:
1. 3G patent platform under UIPA (UMTS's IPR study committee) "to ...set license and royalty fees for key 3G patents ...is about 95% complete";
2. proposed royalty %s are generally acceptable within the group (w/o Q!'s participation) and hoping to trade off objections of those "COMPANIES [THAT]DERIVE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF THEIR TOTAL REVENUE STREAM FROM ROYALTIES...[WITH] A LARGE NUMBER OF LICENSEES...."
3. Q!, according to [Julie] does not agree with any of the proposed patent-pooling arrangements;
4. UIPA hopes to have in place the patent pooling arrangement by year-end 1999, or at least before Docomo rolls out 3G; and
5. UIPA will succeed if it is able to attract 60%, 70% or 80% of the owner of 3G technology.
Does any of this compute?
While it is certainly in Q!'s best interests for CDMA-based 3G to reach as wide a universe of licensees as possible, this is likely under any scenario free of governmental body coercion or interference.
Any notion that Q!'s IPR royalties will be (i) assessed for inclusion as part of the patent platform determined to drive 3G and (ii) that related rates will be set and/or capped is profoundly unsettling. Q!'s potential is the unfettered combination of 1+2.
I can understand the need for carriers to minimize costs and redundancies for deployment to the 3G upgrade path, but is 3G as such inherently more expensive than operating today's 2G or analog systems? Does any of this compute? Is this the crow ETSI will force Q! to eat to eat GSM toast in Europe?
Regards. Steven |
