In trying to figure out/make sense why things have played out as they have (against the strong advisement of Ron and others, but heh, I am a CSI addict), and what to expect next, I performed some analysis on the companies originally in the lawsuit and those who still remain in Texas. Everything expressed below is just my opinion based on analysis performed, and I strongly recommend you perform your own DD.

FWIW & GLTAL

Things We Know

We know that ARM technology, ARM7TDMI, ARM926EJ-S, ARM1026EJ-S, and ARM946ES, all have been accused by TPL of infringing the ‘584 patent. This information was culled from Pacer doc filed 08/14/2006. Link provided below courtesy of one of our resident experts BaNosser!

http://photos.imageevent.com/banos/jalitigation/show_case_doc%2096.pdf%20336%20Arm.pdf

Toshiba sent ARM notification that they (Toshiba) were accused of selling products that were accused of infringing on the ‘336; “584, and “148 patents. No specific ARM products were listed in notification letter. (No link, referenced Pacer doc dated 08/25/2006)

NEC sent ARM notification that they (NEC) were accused of selling products that were accused of infringing on the ‘336; “584, and “148 patents. NEC states in letter that it is their (NEC) understanding that NEC’s accused products containing ARM technology have been alleged to infringe the ‘584 Patent. (No link, referenced Pacer doc dated 08/25/2006)

FUJITSU Analysis

Fujitsu signed licensing agreement February, 2006

List of ARM processors used by Fujitsu, you will notice that products listed are identified as products previously identified as  infringing on ‘584:

http://www.arm.com/community/display_product.php?ProductId=2200&display=7

Fujitsu is a heavy user of both AMD and Intel processors. No links provided since all you need to do is Google these 3 companies and you will see they are intertwined.

Could this be why we settled with Fujitsu, since we already have licensing agreements with AMD and Intel, and all that is left in Texas is claims against the ‘584? If so, than would/could indemnification agreement between Fujitsu and ARM be what is at stake?

SONY Analysis

Sony signed licensing agreement June, 2006

List of ALL ARM Partners, notice Sony is NOT listed:

http://www.arm.com/community/all_partners.php?PageTitle=All%20Partners&display=7

But Sony has used ARM products in their PSP:

http://www.arm.com/markets/home_solutions/armpp/8732.html

Sony is a heavy user of both AMD and Intel processors. No links provided since all you need to do is Google these 3 companies and you will see they are intertwined.

Could this be why we settled with Sony, since we already have licensing agreements with AMD and Intel, and there is possibly nothing for us in Texas with Sony infringing on our patents utilizing ARM technology?

NEC Analysis

NEC signed licensing agreement February, 2007

August 22, 2006, NEC notified ARM that they were being accused of producing products containing ARM technology infringing on the ‘584 Patent. Link below is to list of ARM processors used by NEC, you will notice that only one product is listed, ARM7TDMI-S, which has been identified by TPL as infringing on ‘584.

http://www.arm.com/community/display_product.php?ProductId=2002&display=7

NEC is a heavy user of Intel, and does work closely with AMD (they use AMD products as well as seem to be suing each other a lot). No links provided since all you need to do is Google these 3 companies and you will see they are intertwined.

Could this be why we settled with NEC, since we already have licensing agreements with AMD and Intel, and all that is left in Texas is a claim against the ‘584? If so, than would/could indemnification agreement between NEC and ARM be what is at stake?

Panasonic/MEI Analysis

No license agreement yet.

ARM does not list Panasonic or MEI as one of their partners:

http://www.arm.com/community/all_partners.php?PageTitle=All%20Partners&display=7

ARM and Panasonic have worked together in past as evidenced in link below (just one of many):

http://www.arm.com/news/5089.html

From what I could find, it appears that Panasonic has primarily utilized the ARM11 Family core in their products. My guess would be primarily in TV’s based on what I have read.

Link to ARM11 Family:

http://www.arm.com/products/CPUs/families/ARM11Family.html

Panasonic does use both AMD and Intel processors in their products (laptops and camcorders from what I could find, but I am sure there is much more). No links provided since all you need to do is Google these 3 companies and you will see they are intertwined.

IMO, this one has been the toughest one to figure out, but I guess we will know soon enough.

Toshiba Analysis

No license agreement yet.

June 1, 2006, Toshiba notified ARM that they were being accused of producing products infringing on the ‘336; “148; and ‘584 Patents. No specific ARM technologies were referenced in letter.

List of ARM processors (ARM7TDMI-S, ARM92EJ-S, ARM946E-S, and ARM1026EJ-S) used by Toshiba, you will notice that ALL 4 products listed are accused of infringing on ‘584:

http://www.arm.com/community/display_product.php?ProductId=2124&display=7

Toshiba is a heavy user of both AMD and Intel processors. No links provided since all you need to do is Google these 3 companies and you will see they are intertwined.

Could Toshiba be the next settlement since we have licensing agreements with both AMD and Intel, and it appears that all that would left to resolve in Texas would be for products containing ARM technology accused to be infringing on the ‘584 Patent? If we did settle, than would/could indemnification agreement between Toshiba and ARM be what is at stake in Texas?  My guess is that Toshiba will be our next license. Matter of fact, I am almost willing to bet money on it.