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To: SKIP PAUL who wrote (20287)12/22/1998 6:40:00 PM
From: Dave  Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 152472
 
SKIP PAUL:

If QCOM refused to licence it's IPR for WCDMA
what are the viable choices for ERICY:

1. Work around QCOM's IPR. which could take years to develop if at all.


Well, as was discussed on this thread, if Qualcomm's patents are, indeed, blocking patents, then Ericsson stands no chance in "working around" Qualcomm's patents. However, I disagree, and you are implicitly stating that Qualcomm's patents are not, in fact, blocking patents.

Next point, it wouldn't take Ericsson years of R&D to develop "work around" solutions. All it would take would be a team of attorneys with some of their top R&D people a few months, if not weeks, to find the holes and file at either the US PTO or EPO.

One more point to add for your case, there is a big difference in adding a feature to an existing patent and adding a patentable feature to receive a patent. However, when receiving a patent, it is luck of the draw b/c the "breadth" of coverage really depends on the examiner, i.e. the person working at one of those Patent Offices. Get my drift?

2. Start selling WCDMA without a license from QCOM and take a chance in the
courts. This could expose it to huge risks.


If Qualcomm does indeed have the IPR, yes this is a huge risk, but not just for Ericsson, but for any provider. I do not see any provider, such as AT&T Wireless, offering W-CDMA without some sort of guarantee from Ericsson.

Nevertheless, I do agree with you that if Qualcomm has the IPR and Ericsson sells its W-CDMA equipment, infrastructure, etc to Wireless providers (of course where Qualcomm has the coverage for their IP), Ericsson is going to find themselves in a Patent Infringement suit. Furthermore, if Qualcomm provides their case (of course before a fair and unbiased judge and/or jury), Ericsson might be put out of business. Remember, Kodak rendered Polaroid bankrupt after Kodak's victory in a Patent dispute.

3. Become a CDMAone and CDMA2000 licensee and compete with other
licensees way behind Nokia.


Always the third option. Maybe Ericsson could offer another "fig leaf" ala the rate reduction to Qualcomm.

dave



To: SKIP PAUL who wrote (20287)12/22/1998 9:03:00 PM
From: SKIP PAUL  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 152472
 
From DDI website: The site has a series of frames describing CDMAone which can be viewed by clicking on Next.

ddi.co.jp

DDI and IDO Set to Introduce
CDMA
In March 1997, DDI Corp. and IDO Corp. announced
that they planned to jointly introduce a code division
multiple access (CDMA) digital cellular system
nationwide. It is the latest digital cellular technology
and is gaining wide acceptance throughout the world,
as the communications environment becomes
increasingly globalized and seamless in terms of
technology, systems and businesses. In addition to
providing voice communications, cellular phones using
state-of-the-art systems technology will act as
sophisticated information terminals, transmitting and
receiving multimedia information and images. The new
service will initially provide 14.4kbps data
communications transmission speed, and 64 kbps data
transmission speed will be added in 1999. In line with
its philosophy of promoting global standardization and
the development of a communications environment
which allows people to communicate anywhere,
anytime, with anyone, DDI views the introduction of
state-of-the-art CDMA technology as the next step in
increasing customer convenience, service and mobility
in an advanced digital format, while remaining
compatible with the analog systems in current use.
EMeeting User Demand
The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications
forecasts that the number of subscribers to cellular
systems will increase to about 45 million by the spring
of 2001. New users are putting growing pressure on the
current spectrum, and the TACS and PDC systems have
nearly reached their capacity limits, so there is a
pressing need to effect improvements to support
increased user traffic through the introduction of
high-speed services which make the most effective use
of the new 1.25 MHz bandwidth. Otherwise, it will
become impossible to handle the onslaught of new
subscribers expected around 1998 in cities such as
Tokyo and Osaka. This is why DDI and IDO are
moving rapidly to introduce the CDMA digital cellular
system and services. DDI will be the first company in
Japan to introduce cdmaOneTM, in July of 1998 in
Kansai, Kyushu and Okinawa, while IDO will start
cdmaOneTM services in the spring of 1999.

ENumerous Advantages with CDMA Technology
CDMA is a modulation and multiple access scheme
based on spread spectrum communications technology.
In addition to solving the immediate capacity concerns
of the rapidly growing cellular market, it also answers
industry's long-term need for affordable, efficient
mobile communications systems and services.
Compared to FDMA and TDMA technology, CDMA
features more spectrum-efficient, economical, quality
mobile digital cellular capabilities.