"We are very pleased to have won this bid for some of the most valuable wireless patents in the world," said George Cwynar, President and Chief Executive Officer, MOSAID. "The acquisition of these wireless patents is a major step for MOSAID that firmly establishes our patent licensing program in another of the world's largest technology markets."
The portfolio consists of 20 issued patents in the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Great Britain and Canada, and three pending patents in the United States and Europe, with an average remaining life of 11 years for the key patents. The portfolio includes patents that are essential to the 802.11 family of WLAN (or WiFi) standards, and the 802.16 family of WiMAX standards. The majority of laptop computers, handheld gaming devices, video game consoles, WiFi-enabled handsets and many other wireless electronic products and systems are designed to be compliant with the 802.11 a, b, g, e and/or the 802.16 standards and would require a license to these patents.
"Agere invited more than 70 companies to bid on this portfolio of intellectual property assets, which includes several inventions patented by engineers working for the WaveLan group of NCR, which founded the 802.11 standards body," said John Lindgren, Senior Vice President Patent Licensing and General Counsel, MOSAID. "Consumer and infrastructure products that adhere to the 802.11 and 802.16 wireless networking standards utilize the patented inventions we have acquired, and many significant multinational companies are presently unlicensed to this patent portfolio."
"Agere and MOSAID have each invested considerable resources in evaluating and mapping the patents of this portfolio to the IEEE 802.11 and IEEE 802.16 standards, and MOSAID believes that the licensing revenue from these WiFi and WiMAX patents has the potential to surpass the revenues that the Company has earned to date from its DRAM memory patents," said Lindgren.
WLAN capability is expanding from use primarily in PCs and network access systems into consumer electronics such as mobile handsets and video game consoles. Over 80% of notebook computers currently include WLAN technology, and Gartner forecasts that 25% of mobile handsets will be able to connect via WLAN by 2010, a significant increase from less than 1% in 2006. The handset market continues to grow both in volume and revenue, reaching close to one billion units in 2006 (US$144 billion) and up to 1.5 billion units (US$220 billion) by 2011.
MOSAID's management will discuss the purchase of the Agere patent portfolio during the Company's fiscal 2007 third quarter analyst conference call, scheduled for 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Thursday, February 22, 2007.
About MOSAID
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MOSAID Technologies Incorporated makes semiconductors better through the development and licensing of intellectual property. MOSAID counts many of the world's largest semiconductor companies among its customers. Founded in 1975, MOSAID is based in Ottawa, Ontario, with offices in Santa Clara, California. For more information, visit www.mosaid.com.
Forward Looking Information
This document and certain other public documents incorporated by reference in this document, contain forward-looking statements to the extent they relate to MOSAID or its management, including those identified by the expressions "anticipate," "believe," "foresee," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "could," "may,", "plan," "will," "would" and similar expressions. Similarly, statements in this document that describe MOSAID's business strategy, outlook, objectives, plans, intentions or goals also are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but rather reflect MOSAID's current expectations regarding future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Assumptions made in preparing forward-looking statements and financial guidance include, but are not limited to, the following: MOSAID's continued expansion of its patent portfolio and of its opportunities for future patent licensing revenue as a result of MOSAID's acquisition of patents from third parties and from development of new inventions; DRAM manufacturers continuing to infringe MOSAID's patents; the timing and amount of MOSAID's litigation expenses; MOSAID's ability to sign new patent licensees; the value proposition associated with MOSAID's products relative to its competition in the market; the timing and amount of MOSAID's Research & Development expenses; the timing of MOSAID's new product introductions; MOSAID's ability to develop, manufacture, and market innovative products in a rapidly changing technological environment; and MOSAID's ability to maintain and enhance existing customer relationships.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results include, but are not limited to, the following: declines or unexpected variations in market growth rates for MOSAID's products; the extent of embedded DRAM proliferation in the System-on-a-Chip markets; variability in customer deployment schedules from quarter to quarter; shifts in the mix of MOSAID products sold; unfavorable legal rulings in MOSAID's patent litigations; economic, social, and political conditions in the countries in which MOSAID, its customers, suppliers, or patent licensees operate, including security risks, health conditions, possible disruptions in transportation networks and fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; non-payment or delays in payment by customers/licensees; failure to maintain and enforce MOSAID's existing patent portfolio, or failure to obtain valuable patents as a result of research and development activities, or failure to acquire valuable patents from third parties; MOSAID's ability to recruit and retain skilled personnel; change in MOSAID's financial position; obsolescence of products or inappropriate targeting to markets that fail to materialize; inability to transition to new technologies to meet customer demand; variations in average sales cycles; key component supply restrictions and/or cost increases; critical industry transitions; consolidation of MOSAID's customers and/or licensees; natural events, such as severe weather and earthquakes in the locations in which MOSAID, its customers, suppliers, or patent licensees operate; and changes in the tax rate applicable to MOSAID as the result of changes in the tax law in the jurisdictions in which profits are determined to be earned and taxed, the outcome of tax audits and the ability to realize deferred tax assets.
MOSAID assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties affecting MOSAID's business and other factors that could cause MOSAID's financial results to fluctuate are contained in MOSAID's Annual Information Form, under the section entitled "Risk Factors," and in MOSAID's other public filings available online at www.sedar.com.