As reported more fully above, the Federal Circuit has ruled that collateral estoppel (based on a settlement with Apple before an underlying district court opinion was reversed or vacated) blocks the predecessors of Uniloc 2017 LLC from arguing that it had standing before May 2018 to sue under its agreements with Fortress Investment Group LLC—and that a May 2018 termination of those agreements reset the board, clearing the way for litigation of cases filed later to proceed. However, Federal Circuit Judge Alan David Lourie went further. While acknowledging that the appellate court normally does “not opine on issues that are not necessary to decide a case” and while agreeing that the panel decision “soundly affirms the district court on the ground of estoppel”, Judge Lourie expressed a belief that “the district court so misconstrued the license issue that something further needs to be said about it”, which Judge Lourie did—in a concurring opinion.