Shares of NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ: NXPI) gained 18.4% in November, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The Dutch-American microchip maker posted solid earnings last month, but the fuel for NXP's fires actually came from a different source: a long-running legal dispute settled on Nov. 9. The outcome was not in NXP's favor, but investors applauded as the legal cloud dissipated at a modest financial cost.

I'm talking about a patent infringement case that RFID technologist Impinj (NASDAQ: PI) filed against NXP in 2019. Impinj argued that its far-larger rival essentially copied important parts of its patent-protected RFID endpoints. A jury in Waco, Texas, sided with Impinj on Nov. 9, and the legal press got its hands on that verdict on Nov. 13.

Unconfirmed rumblings about the verdict drove NXP's stock 3.5% higher on Nov. 10, and the full-fledged announcement unleashed another 5.4% jump on Nov. 13. Of course, Impinj's investors embraced the news with more enthusiasm. The RFID expert's shares rose by 4.8% and 9.7% on the same two dates.

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Source Fool.com