Qualcomm Takes Another Hit in Patent Court

Implications: Nokia has just won a ruling against Qualcomm. A disaster for technology valuation and patent setting.

Analysis: Frankly, I don’t know what bee is in the judge’s bonnet.  I am not going to opine on the merits of the case.

I am concerned about the state of intellectual property ownership in the USA and other countries.  The whole idea of an entire patent being invalidated by a court is disturbing.

A court has ruled Nokia did not infringe three Qualcomm patents at issue in the case and that one of the patents is invalid.  This is outrageous.  What is the point of having a patent office?  Should national governments take the time to check the work products of their respective patent offices?

Worse still the lawsuits have become a pattern in technology commerce today.

How in the world are investors supposed to establish corporate valuation for a technology company when its patent portfolio can be invalidated by a competitor in a court room?

This is not an isolated situation.  This is a pattern that will undermine the way companies are valued, the way patents play a role in valuing a company, and the entire patent process.