PATENTS - Enforcement

The vast majority of those license discussions happen quietly, outside of the public eye.  Of course, sometimes the companies cannot agree so they end up in litigation. But the conflicts and lawsuits we sometimes see, as regrettable as they are, are not a sign that something is wrong; it is simply the way businesses work these things out, especially when the stakes are high.  Litigation can also drive conversation and negotiation, sometimes involving mediation, and eventually participants reach an understanding.

That is the CEO of Interdigital, here from IP Watchdog.

He finds the process effective:

...until Washington stepped in.  If anything, through its public statements, vetos of import bans and antitrust investigations, the sense that Washington is backing down from providing strong patent protection has amplified the conflicts rather than helping to resolve them.  The sense that the International Trade Commission (ITC) may have reduced the strike zone for patent owners to almost nothing, or that companies might get let off the hook even if  the ITC does find in favor of the patent owner, or that awards for infringement of standard essential patents are best measured in tenths of a cent despite the fact that this would never reimburse companies for their R&D investment, has emboldened some companies to resist constructive negotiation. I am convinced that, had the process been left to work itself out, with the judiciary simply calling balls and strikes on patents and adjudicating any defenses raised, most of the conflicts that have shaken our industry would be fully resolved by now.