Consolidated Statements of Income Statement (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Royalty Revenue	$ 276,547	$ 295,372	$ 370,231
Patent Sales	384,000	0	0
Technology Services Revenue	2,516	6,370	24,314
REVENUES	663,063	301,742	394,545
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Patent administration and licensing	126,284	71,736	58,907
Development Expense	67,862	63,763	71,464
Selling, general and administrative	37,351	31,486	28,301
Repositioning	12,536	0	0
Total Operating Expenses	244,033	166,985	158,672
Income from operations	419,030	134,757	235,873
OTHER INCOME:
Other Nonoperating Income (Expense)	(10,396)	(10,149)	2,574
Income before income taxes	408,634	124,608	238,447
INCOME TAX PROVISION	(136,830)	(35,140)	(84,831)
NET INCOME	271,804	89,468	153,616
NET INCOME PER COMMON SHARE — BASIC	$ 6.31	$ 1.97	$ 3.48
WEIGHTED AVERAGE NUMBER OF COMMON SHARES OUTSTANDING — BASIC	43,070	45,411	44,084
NET INCOME PER COMMON SHARE — DILUTED	$ 6.26	$ 1.94	$ 3.43
WEIGHTED AVERAGE NUMBER OF COMMON SHARES OUTSTANDING — DILUTED	43,396	46,014	44,824
CASH DIVIDEND DECLARED PER COMMON SHARE	$ 1.90	$ 0.40	$ 0.10
Patent License Revenue [Member]
Royalty Revenue	$ 22,300