It's an interesting discussion, the patent one. I was just reading about how many low-value patents are lodged in China. Not to suggest that EM are doing that; I've no idea.
Presuming the worst and EM are nefarious, which I'm not convinced of at all, but for the sake of a bear thesis regarding this, it's worth a little time to think how a patent infringement might play out.
So EM somehow manages to re-engineer 15 years of AKP development and produce a version of the chip (I presume that is the fear holders have); it would surely be a little suspicious, a little obvious - 'Oh look, we did it too and forgot to tell everyone'. Or would they have to go about things another way and secretly transfer inside info to a third party that would pop their head out of the blue and say they'd also been developing DSR for years? It all gets conspiratorial and far-fetched for me. EM already have a significant business opportunity in front of them by working with AKP in making the chip a success, including some marketing rights within China, if my memory serves me right.
And on the other side, it's common knowledge in the consumer electronics and MEMS speaker industry that AKP is the only company looking to produce a DSR chip - it's been a one-horse race for years. If we are to believe Danny (I've no reason not to); all the major CE players have been updated with the chip's development for years. If a "counterfeit" chip came on the scene, would they take the chance of putting it into their products against the backdrop of inevitable legal action? Is there an example of an Apple, Samsung or a Sony going along with an obvious case of IP theft? It does seem more straightforward for those companies to deal with AKP directly.
The world is a weird place, and I'm not suggesting IP theft never happens, ofcourse it does - but I'm struggling to see how it manifests itself in this instance, I could be wrong.
DYOR - good luck all.
(20min delay)