To: Dave who wrote (15653 ) 9/28/1998 7:08:00 PM From: Gregg Powers Read Replies (4) | Respond to of 152472
Dave: Please do not speak for me or attempt to characterize my firm's efforts. I did not get "one" opinion. My firm paid for a detailed patent study conducted by a Washington-based law firm with an international IPR practice. The same type of outside firm, mind you, that your typical international telecom company would use to evaluate the validity and enforceability of intellectual property rights worldwide. You claim to be expert in patent enforcement yet you seem to misunderstand the nature and breadth of the QC IPR related to W-CDMA. The terms "rake receiver", "power control" and "soft handoff" broadly represent a multitude of technological innovations that are protected by several hundred patents in toto. Part of the difficulty in assessing QC's patent strength derives from the breadth of IPR and the technological abstraction of the underlying concepts. However, since my firm has an investment exceeding $160mm in QC's equity, we felt that a six-figure IPR review fee was justifiable. Were we given a legal opinion that EVERY patent would stand in all jurisdications? Of course not. However, we are very comfortable that such a preponderance of the core aspects of ERICY's W-CDMA involve QC IPR that it will be virtually impossible for QC's patents to be circumvented. As a law student, I am certain you understand the risks of litigation...that is why a single patent...despite all legal and technical correctness...can prove to be a risky asset. As such, no competent law firm would ever render an absolute judgment on the validity of a single piece of IPR. But QC's overall patent position is such that, in a worse case scenario, the company could tie the deployment of W-CDMA up in court for years...while continuing to sell its IS-95 and wideband cdmaOne solutions unencumbered. As I have pointed out before, we have yet to see ERICY, or any of its W-CDMA cohorts, attempt to sell ANY W-CDMA solution ANYWHERE in the world. All the programs to date have been carefully described as "projects" and "trials". As an IPR expert, don't you find it interesting that ERICY et al have retreated beneath this safe harbor? Do you understand the point? For the nth time, if ERICY et al could simply circumvent QC's IPR, then there would be no debate, no litigation, no fuss and no muss. W-CDMA would be tracking against a firm deployment schedule and this debate would be moot. Gregg