RBCT Chapter 1397 2 Gifts (4k)
Chapter 1397 2 Gifts (4k)
Chapter 1397 Two Gifts (4k)
Before the formal proceedings of the Supreme Court began, the arrogance of Yike, Apple and Qualcomm had already been determined.
This is the first time that the public has attended the trial of the Qualcomm monopoly lawsuit.
Prior to this, due to Qualcomm's application, both the local court and the appellate court conducted closed trials, and once they were made public, they went to the Supreme Court...
Listening to the lawyer's passionate speech and the piles of information displayed, everyone in the audience could feel the complainant's firm confidence.
As for the facts, is Qualcomm a monopoly?
Brother, it’s Baolong.
At this point in the legal process, both Yi Ke and Apple's lawyers believe that the nature of Qualcomm is very clear. However, whether the final judgment will be as expected depends on how the nine justices present deliberate and decide.
All I can say is that no matter how solid the evidence submitted by Apple and Yike's lawyers is, if they believe Qualcomm is not breaking the law, then it is not breaking the law. And if they vote by majority rule that it is a monopoly, then no matter what position Qualcomm has in the communications field or what influence it has on communications standards, it is a monopoly.
Lawyers cannot predict the outcome and can only do their best at every step.
This first step of oral argument...
Without looking at the justices’ reactions, just looking at the expressions of the audience and the frown on the face of Qualcomm CEO Chen Fuyang, it’s natural to tell who’s better.
According to the process, the first to speak are the complainants, namely Yike and Apple, who specifically explain why the lower court's decision should be overturned or revised. This is followed by the defendant's response, explaining why the original decision should be upheld.
This session usually takes one hour.
Regardless of either side's statements and responses, the justices may interrupt at any time to ask their questions and test the strength of the lawyers' arguments and the consistency of their logic.
In addition to the nine votes of the nine justices who already hold particularly firm positions, the votes in subsequent deliberations may be affected by the questions they ask and the answers they get.
However, almost everyone at the scene could see the strengths and weaknesses of both sides.
This is not entirely because of the profound skills of Yi Ke and Apple's lawyers, but because the questions asked by the justices did not break out of the original rut.
Before the Supreme Court's hearing and the Court of Appeal's hearing, Qualcomm had been investigated and tried regarding patent licensing and market monopoly over the past decade.
When Apple and Yike's lawyers summarized and analyzed past cases, they found that the justices' questions were all traceable.
As the first public trial of the giant's lawsuit progressed, people around him whispered more and more, forcing the judge to pause several times to maintain order on the scene. The expressions of Chen Fuyang and Cook showed two extremes, one of them had a frown on his face all the time, and the other even had a smile on his face at the end.
The final trial involving the communications giant did not receive any preferential treatment due to its market position. It officially began at nine in the morning and ended at just ten fifteen.
The subsequent deliberations of the nine justices will be handled behind closed doors, and once they move forward with the process, the final ruling will most likely be unveiled.
One hour and fifteen minutes.
The time was so short that Chen Fuyang felt dazed when he stood up to leave. Was he too careless? He didn't even ask the CEO...
He had prepared many speeches, but none of them were used.
The reporters swarmed forward again. Cook was surrounded by a circle, Chen Fuyang was surrounded by a circle, and Schroeder was the least chased by reporters because of his job change.
"Mr. Chen, what do you think of this trial?"
"Mr. Chen, are you still confident that Qualcomm will win?"
"Mr. Chen, Mr. Chen, why are you sweating?"
Chen Fuyang was in a trance when he heard these words and subconsciously raised his hand to wipe the sweat off his face. Such an embarrassing action was naturally captured by the reporters.
He quickly reacted, smiled again, and gave a positive response: "I believe everyone can realize Qualcomm's contribution to the communications field. We are just getting the compensation we deserve under business rules."
Cook, who was surrounded on the other side, was not far from Chen Fuyang. He was about to answer the reporter's question, but after hearing Chen Fuyang's voice, he said directly: "Mr. Chen, the business rules have changed, so you should get new compensation under the new business rules."
"Qualcomm is a leader in communications standards. I don't think today's business rules have changed as Apple imagines." Chen Fuyang immediately retorted.
"Mr. Chen, it is very likely that it is not just the business rules that are changing, but also the laws and regulations that we must abide by." Cook's tone was not impatient. "Laws and regulations must also adapt to the development of the new market. I firmly believe in this. Mr. Chen, do you also believe in it?"
Chen Fuyang did not answer immediately this time.
By the time he wanted to answer, Cook no longer gave him the chance. He apologized, pushed through the crowd, and politely declined the media reporters' entanglement.
Chen Fuyang's already gloomy mood was about to thunder and rain.
He held on and reluctantly answered a few questions about Qualcomm, and was about to leave the scene.
"Mr. Chen, before you took office as CEO of Qualcomm, you once claimed that you could resolve the dispute with Yike quickly, but the current situation is obviously beyond your control. Does this have anything to do with Mr. Fang of Yike? Has he ever made a clear promise?" A reporter asked this question based on previous and subsequent information.
Chen Fuyang turned his head to look at the source of the voice, forced a smile, and answered the last question: "Boss Fang and I have no private commitment, but I may have underestimated Yi Ke's determination. We could have handled it more harmoniously."
Underestimated?
"Little Fang Zhuo" seemed to have underestimated the murderous intent of "Real Fang Zhuo" in this matter.
But at least Qualcomm now has more businesses that can be integrated, and the original Avago is gradually being integrated into the company, which is exactly what Chen Fuyang is good at.
The situation is a bit bad, but not that bad.
Chen Fuyang got rid of the reporters and when he got into the car he suddenly realized the decline in his expectations in recent days.
The situation is good → The situation is good → The situation is a little bit wrong → The situation is a little bit bad...
It shouldn't be that bad.
Chen Fuyang felt a little uncertain.
He resisted the urge to make a private call to Mr. Fang, knowing that it would be completely useless at this time. He could only wait for the final result to come out as the stock price fell.
……
“The drop in Qualcomm’s stock price isn’t that big.”
As the Supreme Court’s public process came to an end, Fang Zhuo, who was in Shanghai, noticed the impact on the secondary market.
"It's not a lot, just a drop of a few billion, right?" Su Wei felt that President Fang was being sarcastic.
"I think everyone may have gotten used to Qualcomm's decline. Now the 800 billion is still quite strong." Fang Zhuo was looking for the reason why the decline could not be widened. He had thought there would be a bigger plunge.
Su Wei asked: "When will the result be announced? If the final ruling is unfavorable, won't Qualcomm's market value fall below 800 billion? This is getting further and further away from the goal of building a new Qualcomm."
The new Qualcomm formed by Qualcomm and Avago is believed by both within the company and the media to soon become a $100 billion company.
Unexpectedly, it might really touch upon the root cause. Once problems arise in the patent licensing model, at least one-third of the revenue will be greatly affected.
"I don't know about that. They need to write an opinion. It may be tomorrow, next month, or even until the middle of the year." Fang Zhuo shook his head.
The Qualcomm case is a very complicated one. The Supreme Court has to ensure that the argument is rigorous and can fully explain the reasons for the judgment, which is time-consuming and has a lot of uncertainty.
"That's good too. Let's all have a good New Year." Su Wei likes the Chinese New Year more and more, and she likes the joy of the big family more and more.
It is less than a week away from the Spring Festival. No matter what risks Yike and Bingxin face, no matter what kind of attack Alibaba launches, everyone's mood is gradually relaxing.
It’s the New Year, so let’s put everything else aside for now.
The same was true for Fang Zhuo. His work plans after the New Year were quite busy, so he took the opportunity to get together with his friends before the New Year. He chose the cruise party that Zhou Xin strongly recommended, and the small circle talked about gains and losses and the foreseeable future.
Although Yike faced uncertainties in the global market in the past six months, it was also the most fruitful three months since its establishment. Apart from that, the visible decline of Duji and the circulation and expansion of the Yike system are all news worth smiling about.
"The launch of Coresun Mobile has been postponed because they are not having a smooth time using GlobalFoundries' chips. Brother Fang, I heard that Coresun is considering switching to domestic SMIC technology." Zhou Xin is a person who focuses on doing his own business and living his own life well, but he has also been paying close attention to the situation in the past few months.
"Who told you that?" Fang Zhuo asked the source of the information.
"According to gossip, SMIC's stock price has been rising recently, and I heard that there has been progress in 22nm," said Zhou Xin.
"It's more or less the same. SMIC is making rapid progress now. The technology research and development before 16nm is actually a more conventional approach." Fang Zhuo confirmed the news to a certain extent.
Zhou Xin lowered his voice and asked: "Can SMIC do OEM for Yike?"
"It depends on how fast it progresses. Well, SMIC's current development environment is better than Bingxin's. It is currently negotiating with ASML on the purchase of equipment. They have no restrictions." Fang Zhuo replied.
Unlike Bingxin, which is restricted in purchasing advanced equipment, SMIC's original license can still be used because of its weak presence.
Fang Zhuo really hopes that SMIC can buy the equipment so that it can serve as a reference for the technical route, but there is a lot of uncertainty in this matter. ASML is unwilling to carry out in-depth R&D cooperation with Bingxin, but after all, it wants to sell the products it makes.
The demand for high-end equipment in the world is relatively narrow, and Bingxin clearly cannot purchase it. SMIC represents the needs of the mainland market and is not technologically advanced, so the two sides held negotiations in a low-key manner.
Zhou Xin wanted to ask more questions when he saw Liu Zonghong walking over quickly and handing him the phone.
He consciously stepped away a few steps to give Brother Fang space to talk.
When Zhou Xin noticed that the call was over, he also saw the smile on Brother Fang's face.
"Six to three." Fang Zhuo simply stated the information conveyed by the phone call.
On February 2, New Year's Eve, our American friends passed on information concerning the final ruling in advance. The vote count was far better than expected, and the scene of the closed-door deliberation was almost overwhelming.
Qualcomm's market position and influence in the communications field are still taken into consideration.
However, Justice Anthony Kennedy believed that this issue was not a key bargaining chip because the market had changed.
"If Qualcomm is not available, there is still Intel, and Intel's baseband chips are no worse than Qualcomm's. In the long run, sufficient market competition will contribute to greater innovation in this field."
“Many people believe that protectionism leads to long-term success, but history shows us that this is not the case.”
“I don’t think the protection of Qualcomm is the best option.”
As a general representative of moderate conservatives, Anthony stood on the liberal side this time. Perhaps it was precisely because of his statement that when the final voting was over, he would be the one to write the majority opinion for the final judgment.
Although it has not been announced, the real winner has been decided. The new Qualcomm needs to reconsider its patent licensing model and seriously comply with FRAND rules.
Fang Zhuo heard the description of the review scene on the phone and was very happy to be able to promote full market competition for the new Qualcomm.
When the ruling is officially announced, it will mean that the scope of application of the Exhaustion Doctrine in the United States will be further expanded, which is quite symbolic.
The news from Qualcomm was like a New Year's gift, which put Fang Zhuo in a good mood while watching the Spring Festival Gala for half the night.
However, the remaining half of the night felt a little different as another gift arrived.
At 11 o'clock in the evening, Fang Zhuo received another call from a friend. Just like during the day, it was also an advance notice of a piece of news - BIS has proposed and submitted a disposal plan for ice cores, which will further restrict the purchase of equipment and technology introduction for ice cores. At the same time, it will restrict some companies from providing services for ice cores, and also restrict some companies from accepting services from ice cores.
Buy, sell, cooperate.
Yi Ke's name is explicitly mentioned in the plan, and a certain amount of time will be set aside as a buffer.
In addition to the disposal plan for Bingxin, there is also an informal contingency plan centered around the cooperation between Yike and Bingxin. It plans to forcibly end Yike's product orders with telecom operators, which means that Yike is close to being kicked out of the US market. In addition, some companies will be called upon to carefully consider cooperation with Yike.
After Fang Zhuo finished listening to the report on the other end of the phone, he asked, "Both plans violate the law, right? Is this constitutional?"
"If necessary, new regulations may emerge." My friend's attitude is clearer, just like... just like Qualcomm is facing new regulations today.
The person on the other end of the phone immediately emphasized: "This is just an informal contingency plan. It may not come into effect and may still change, but I strongly suggest that we should not expose such a plan to the public."
A contingency plan that may not appear and may change, now appears on the phone more like an ultimatum and a warning.
(End of this chapter)