Philips license purchase was a surprise to those of us that thought license sales would dry up or only involve small companies - until settlement.

Philips is big by any standard. The relative benifit of using our patents (thus the license price) is not known but looking only at Philips product lines I'd guess the license price was not small. Once again, a staff of lawyers from a large company has studied the ongoing litigation and voted with company $ in favor of TPL. The timing of this purchase being months before the trail suggests to me that some lawyers believe a settlement will occur before the full trial starts.

Total PPS value of this announcement = ? But it makes me feel better about near term EPS and longer term outlook for a very favorable settlement.

http://www.philips.com/about/company... Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips employs approximately 121,700 employees in more than 60 countries worldwide. With sales of EUR 27.0 billion in 2006, the company is a market leader in medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring systems, energy efficient lighting solutions, personal care and home appliances, as well as consumer electronics.

80,000 registered patents illustrate the innovative nature of the company.