And this was only for ONE patent:
"The company said the law suits had been filed to protect its rights relating to patent number 5,809,336 entitled "High Performance Microprocessor Having Variable Speed System Clock".
AND: Matsushita and SONY were missing then.
Take 31mio$ from Fujitsu, about 5-10mio$ from NEC (those subsidaries, which settled this year) and Sony, let's say we received about 40mio$. Now let's assume "several hundred million" means something between 300 and 400, then we end at 260mio$ minimum damages (taking the 300) - in the year 2003!
Now it's nearly 2008:
- four/five years later = with a semiconductor market nearly doubled since 2003
- three strong patents (or at least two) in the MMP
- one of the biggest electronic companies added to the lawsuit (Matsushita)
- nearly 30 worldwide recognized big companies showed the strength of the patents
I know, it's always better to minimize expectations, but if you look at the whole facts, there is only conclusion for me (IMHOIMHOIMHO):
The amount of dollars must have been increased in the last five years...
IF we receive this amount of money, might be a different question, but I'm sure, it's what TPL/PTSC are demanding.
Enjoy the last days of speculation...lol