Qualcomm has had good luck so far in Ninth Circuit judicial draws in its dispute with the Federal Trade Commission. The three-judge panel that heard its motion for a stay pending appeal last summer? Two Republican appointees. The class certification appeal last fall? Three GOP appointees.

Now the panel that will hear the big kahuna—the merits appeal Thursday from U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh‘s bombshell antitrust ruling—has been chosen. Ninth Circuit Judges Consuelo Callahan and Johnnie Rawlinson plus visiting Judge Stephen Murphy III of the Eastern District of Michigan will decide whether Qualcomm must license its standard-essential patents to chipmaking rivals such as Intel, and stop threatening to disrupt modem chip supply when smartphone makers balk at Qualcomm’s royalty rate.