Summary
InterDigital has settled its 3G dispute with Samsung, for an amount still largely unknown. Now all eyes turn to Nokia.
Analysis
InterDigital had two major litigations underway involving 3G: the Samsung suite of cases, and a comparable Nokia suite of cases. The first cases in both lines were cases meant to be heard at the International Trade Commission. And, indeed, the ITC had briefly tied the Samsung and Nokia ITC matters together such that they were going to be heard as a pair and decided together.
No longer. Nokia first broke ranks by using an arbitration clause to briefly snowball its ITC fight. That left Samsung to go first. Now Samsung has settled, which means Nokia will from here go it alone.
Will Nokia settle? Possible. But, as it was with Samsung, the real question here is more subtle. After all, everyone seems to agree that Nokia infringes at least one IDCC patent with respect to 3G. The fight is over whether "at least one" is plausibly "a few hundred" (as IDCC has at times intimated) or "six or seven" (as NOK has implied.) When Samsung settled, we did not learn much about the answer to that question. Yet, when it comes to understanding the value of IDCC's 3G portfolio, that's obviously the key information needed.
Next information for us: a hearing and continued briefing on the NOK ITC case, with a trial and decision very likely both coming in 2009.
