This is a slightly updated repost of a post I made a while back.
The Apple license was disclosed in some unredacted court filings from 2010.
As I've posted previously, I suspect the Apple license was recognized as revenue in 2010. I believe that early 2010, PTSC learned of the multi-portfolio Apple license that TPL sold and the pathetically low allocation of total dollars to the MMP, versus the other patent portfolios included. Something that TPL had clearly done in prior instances as well with no action by our company to stop it despite numeroous shareholder requests and warnings of same.
Additioanlly, around tha time, I believe it was HTC that filed a court filing that specifically enumerated this type type of sleazy negotiating that Leckrone engaged in, and the commingling of the license expenses and efforts.
With it now out in the open in public court filings, (as opposed to just shareholder complaints through phone calls and e-mails), our BOD was forced to take some action in order to limit their legal exposure. (I believe this is why in April, they sued TPL for breach of contract, fraud, etc., and sought the PDS resolutions. I think the HTC filing EXPOSED the BOD to liability, and for THAT reason, they filed suit with TPL. IMO, if HTC had NOT put that info into a filing, we likely would NEVER have sued TPL for those reasons, and the back-scratching would have continued.)
Typically, PTSC recognizes MMP license revenue when the licenses are signed. However, I believe, that due to the lawsuit, PTSC held off recognizing that fee as the MMP allocation was in dispute. It's my opinion, that not until the 3rd fiscal quarter of 2011 (quarter closing Feb of 2011) was the Apple license revenue recognized. It's my belief that at that time it was agreed to alter the MMP allocation, but that it remained under $6M, and quite likely under $4M.
Additionally, I believe PTSC, through the lawsuit with TPL, got them to agree, to pay PTSC an additional $1.1M for either overcharging of expenses, or under allocation of MMP license fees for multi-patent licenses like Apple and Sony. However, in their typical weak fashion, they caved in to TPL by agreeing to continue to fund NON-MMP LICENSING ACTIVITY, like patent lobbying that was mentioned at the $86K per month. Essentially, TPL got most of PTSC's gained money back through this scheme.
With that in mind, I think it's pretty apparent that the MMP earned less than $6M in license fees from Apple, the most valuable company in the world, and that our BOD has agreed to this.
To what end did they acquiesce, especially in light of Moore's settlement comments, is what is most concerning. Was it a CYA move for the 3 BOD members, or will it amount to a loosening and increasing of the licensing transactions and values?
Since all that occured, the 10qs suggest nothing more than business as usual, but we'll have to see if there is any substantial change in licensing over the next month or 2 to understand fully, as the company CONTINUES to operate with the intention of keeping shareholders as uninformed as possible, IMO.
