InterDigital's Shares Got Crushed: What You Need to Know

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What: Shares of technology license wranglerInterDigital (NAS: IDCC) lost their license to thrill today, falling as much as 23.8% on heavy volume.

Sowhat: The company put itself up for sale a few weeks ago, and the first round of bidding has closed. According to dealReporter, the first round of offers ranged from $1 billion to $2 billion, far below the $2.6 billion market cap that InterDigital commanded Friday or the recent high-water mark north of $3.4 billion.

Nowwhat:The red-hot market for patent assets is cooling down quicker than InterDigital and many of its peers had hoped. Shares of wireless patent hopeful VirnetX (ASE: VHC) dropped as much as 7% without any news of its own while memory-tech specialist Rambus (NAS: RMBS) remains nearly flat. It looks like the big boys of tech already got their fill of high-tech patent claims, reducing hopes for big buyout paydays across this burgeoning little industry.

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