Patent Law

A reader tipped me off to this interesting item by W. David Gardner in yesterday's (July 21, 2008) InformationWeek:

The mother of all wireless patent cases is scheduled to get under way Wednesday when Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM) and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) meet in Delaware Court of Chancery to decide on the amount of royalties Nokia should or should not pay to Qualcomm.
 
Interest in the case -- which could involve hundreds of millions of dollars, even billions -- is so intense that the case will be televised by Courtroom View Network via Webcast. Sources said the service will be available at a charge beginning at $400 and that financial institutions including hedge funds have been signing up for the service. The proceedings will be available online for 30 days for subscribers.

Qualcomm and Nokia have been battling for years over Qualcomm's patents, although Nokia notes that it has developed a patent portfolio of its own in recent years.

The case stems from a 1992 licensing agreement in which Nokia obtained certain rights to Qualcomm patents. Finland-based Nokia, which supplies 40% of the world's mobile phone handsets, is said to have paid $1 billion to Qualcomm and is seeking to cut payments going forward.