INTERDIGITAL V. SAMSUNG

The wireless tech company InterDigital, Inc., will probably never know how the International Trade Commission administrative law judge would have ruled in its patent infringement case against the oft-sued Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. The day before the ITC was to issue a determination on InterDigital’s claims in November, the company announced a licensing deal with Samsung that will end the litigation when Samsung makes its first payment in January. The two companies didn’t disclose the terms of the deal, but The Wall Street Journal quoted an analyst who estimated its value for InterDigital to be $400500 million over the next five years.

And believe it or notSamsung considers that a very good outcome, says Samsung counsel Matthew Powers of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, even though the ITC staff recommended a no violation finding and Powers says that the July 2008 evidentiary hearings (the ITC version of a trial) on InterDigital’s claims “went extremely well for Samsung.” Samsung evidently didn’t want to roll the dice on the judge’s finding.