Your Guide To Patent Play Exposure

Litigations more often trigger strong stock moves, and this was evident in the rally by the shares of ParkerVision, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRKR) last Wednesday.

ParkerVision Goes 4 Up Over Qualcomm

ParkerVision announced on Wedneday that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's latest decisions with respect to the Inter Partes Review filed by QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) have increased the favorable rulings it has received to over six, with the latest decisions according three favorable verdicts.

"With these latest decisions, there are no further IPR's challenging ParkerVision patents currently before the PTAB," the company said in the release.

ParkerVision ended Wednesday's session up 8.49 percent at $2.81.

ParkerVision develops and markets proprietary radio frequency technologies, which are protected by a highly-regarded worldwide patent portfolio.

Sympathy Moves

In sympathy moves, RPX Corp (NASDAQ: RPXC) and Spherix Inc (NASDAQ: SPEX) also ended Wednesday's session notably higher.

RPX provides a subscription-based patent risk management solution that facilitates more efficient exchanges of value between owners and users of patents compared to transactions driven by actual or threatened litigation.

RPX shares galloped 11.25 percent on Wednesday.

Spherix, which draws on portfolios of pioneering technology patents to partner with and support product innovation, also had a field day, advancing 5.50 percent.

Now that begs a look into patent plays, which provide potential for appreciation around catalytic events such as patent filing, patent ruling, settlements and licensing or sale of patents.

What Are Patent Plays?

Patent plays are companies owning patents, either on products/services developed in-house or acquired to be part of a patent portfolio. These patents are potential gold mines, as they could fetch billions of dollars through litigation, licensing or outright sale.

ParkerVision had earlier on March 9, 2016, received favorable decisions from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. The stock had risen roughly 19 percent on the news.

Patent Plays Standing To Benefit In Near Term

• Updating on its existing patent monetization efforts with Equitable UP, Spherix announced on January 23 the lawsuits, which are in varying stages of litigation.
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has ongoing patent litigations against multiple parties. The iPhone maker has ongoing lawsuits against Qualcomm, Nokia Corp (ADR) (NYSE: NOK), SAMSUNG ELECTRONIC KRW5000 (OTC: SSNLF) and Mobile Star LLC, which was found to be selling counterfeit W USB Power Adapters and Lightning to USB cables.
• TASER International, Inc. (NASDAQ: TASR) and Digital Ally, Inc. (NASDAQ: DGLY) are also locked in patent infringement litigation over auto-activation camera technology.
• BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ: BBRY) has a patent lawsuit against Nokia, alleging that the latter's products such as its Flexi Multiradio base stations, radio network controllers and Liquid Radio software make use of technology that is covered by up to 11 patents. These patents were acquired by Blackberry from the now-defunct Nortel for $4.5 billion in 2011.
• Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) has an ongoing patent litigation against Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: REGN) and Sanofi SA (ADR) (NYSE: SNY) over cholesterol drug Praluent.

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