Accrued Liabilities (Tables)	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2020
Sales Allowances and Accruals [Abstract]
Sales Allowances and Accruals [Table Text Block]

[Table Text Block] for Sales Allowances and Accruals [Table]

No definition available.

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Namespace Prefix:	pdli_
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration