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Technology Stocks : Nokia Corp. (NOK) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bofp who wrote (3364)	5/6/2005 9:53:55 AM
From: Eric L	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9255

Nokia and the 3G IP Game ... << Qualcomm can pass through Ericsson IPR to its chip customers as part of their 1999 agreement. >> Yes. In contrast to a recent statement I made elsewhere where I expressed doubt about Ericsson allowing a pass through, there is a transcription posted by Kayaker of a portion of the 3/26/1999 QUALCOMM Conference Call following the Ericsson accord where QUALCOMM states that .. Q: If they buy ASICs from us, then they get the pass-through rights to ERICSSON's patents... essential patents. If they do not buy ASICs from us then they will have to talk to ERICSSON about any patent portfolio that they have. Message 11789749 ... but unfortunately that question does not address whether or not the pass through goes beyond WCDMA to GSM/GPRS/EDGE in UMTS ASICS. Do you have visibility on that? Also ... Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson is listed as a QUALCOMM licensee for subscriber equipment and separately for Infrastructure but not for ASICS. qualcomm.com ASICs licensees are Agere, EoNex, Fujitsu, Infineon, Philips, Lucent, Motorola, NEC, Renesas, Texas Instruments, and VIA Telecom. This not withstanding, Ericsson EMP is designing, manufacturing (through 3rd parties), and selling UMTS (WCDMA) ASIC platforms in competition with QUALCOMM and presumably, one way or another, that's covered under their 1999 agreement. Is it possible that as consideration for allowing QUALLCOMM to pass through Ericsson's IP to their ASIC customers. Is it possible that as consideration for granting the pass through to QUALCOMM, that Ericsson obtained reciprocal rights to pass through QUALCOMM IP to their ASIC customers? << Qualcomm cannot pass Nokia or Motorola IPR. >> So I have been told by some well qualified individuals that have tracked on this. << It is likely that Qualcomm can pass Siemens and Alcatel IPR, but I've not been able to confirm it. >> That would be my guess. They signed late and under pressure. << Steve Altman tried to make the case this morning that the holders of most of the IPR that Qualcomm can't pass through would probably agree to fairly low royalties - I disagree, having discussed it with both Nokia and Motorola. >> I would disagree also. Beyond Nokia and Motorola, and those that heeled to QUALCOMM on the pass through, there are several IP holders that have no need to obtain a license from QUALCOMM, since they manufacture or sell no UMTS SE, infra, or ASICS, that would violate QUALCOMM's patents and I doubt that TI would allow a pass through of their IP without reciprocal privilege which they do not have as made clear in at least 2 CCs back when they announced their CDMA JV with STMicro. << Samsung is pretty much already taken care of, as it as used its formidable NAND flash franchise to wrest favorable royalty rates from its handset rivals. >> In addition to that, and while their IP portfolio doesn't stack up to Ericsson, Nokia's and Motorola's they have made several significant contributions to 3GPP with IP declarations so they are not as naked as some others from the IP portfolio perspective. << LG is a different story - it does not have agreements in place with either NOK or MOT, currently negotiating. >> Hopefully they have been escrowing sufficiently, since they have recorded revenue for a nice chunk of UMTS handsets using EMP chipsets. Since we have gotten into an IP discussion here I guess I should link David Pringle's March 10 article on the subject titled "Dial Time: Hidden Asset Could Let Nokia Capitalize On Boom for 3G Phones" from The Wall Street Journal: Message 21120403 Best, - Eric -

To: bofp who wrote (3364)	5/11/2005 12:09:48 PM
From: Eric L	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9255

Ericsson on QUALCOMM's Pass-Through << Qualcomm can pass through Ericsson IPR to its chip customers as part of their 1999 agreement. >> There is a short Q&A after EMP's Sandeep Chennakeshu presentation at their Capital Market days. The 3nd question at about 1:35 was asked by Paul Sagawa who has focused heavily on GSM/3GSM IP for the last year about QUALCOMM's pass through privileges on UMTS (WCDMA), and he referenced back to. It was answered by Håkan Eriksson of Ericsson R&D not Sandeep: ericsson.com I need to listen again, but if there is a WCDMA pass through (which we both think there is) it may be limited, some weasel words were used, (We have not disclosed the terms - there is some mutual cross licensing, but it is limited, ... maybe they have made an optimistic statement about that) but on dual-mode there is no pass through on the GSM (GPRS EDGE) side and no pass through on UMTS (WCDMA) infrastructure, so the implication is that any UMTS (WCDMA) manufacturer will be negotiating with Ericsson. I'm still curious about whether or not there is a reciprocal pass through privilege that accrues to EMP from QUALCOMM from any cross licensing provisions that do permit a pass through. Best, - Eric -