AWRE-10K
I was reading through the 10K form Aware filed with the SEC and found the following. It is dated March 28. I don't think it has been posted here before.http://www.edgar-online.com/brand/yahoo/gdoc/?choice=2-621844
Many participants in the telecommunications industry have an increasing
number of patents and have frequently demonstrated a readiness to commence
litigation based on allegations of patent and other intellectual property
infringement. Third parties may assert exclusive patent, copyright and other
intellectual property rights to technologies that are important to the Company.
The Company has received letters from two companies, Amati and Telebit
Corporation ("Telebit"), each asserting that it owns certain U.S. and foreign
patents that are necessary for products that comply with the ANSI standard for
ADSL, claiming that the Company's ADSL technology would infringe such patents,
and offering the Company the opportunity to enter into a license agreement with
respect to such patents. The Company has been informed that ADI has received
similar letters. The Company has reviewed the Amati and Telebit patents and has
received an opinion of its patent counsel, based upon the Company's oral
description of its technology, to the effect that the Company's ADSL modem does
not infringe any valid
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claim of any of the Amati and Telebit patents. Based upon this opinion, the
Company believes that it does not require a license under the Amati or Telebit
patents in order to conduct its business.
Despite this opinion, there can be no assurance that a court to which the
issue is submitted would not find that the Company's products infringe the Amati
or Telebit patents, nor that Amati or Telebit will not continue to assert
infringement. If the Company is found to have infringed any of such patents, the
Company could be subject to substantial damages and/or an injunction preventing
it from conducting its proposed business, and the Company's business could be
materially and adversely affected. The Company has also received notice from
Amati of the pendency of various patent applications which Amati considers to be
pertinent to the design and operation of ADSL modems. Unless and until a patent
actually issues, there can be no infringement, and the Company has not examined
any such patent applications or received opinion of patent counsel with respect
thereto. Although Amati and Telebit have offered to license their patents and
their patent applications to the Company, there can be no assurance that any
license would be available on acceptable terms should the Company choose to
pursue such license or be found to infringe such patents. In addition, there can
be no assurance that other third parties will not assert infringement claims
against the Company in the future, that these assertions or those of Amati and
Telebit, will not result in protracted and costly litigation, or that the
Company would prevail in any such litigation or be able to license any valid
patents from third parties on commercially reasonable terms. Further, such
litigation, regardless of its outcome, could result in substantial costs to and
diversion of effort by the Company. Litigation may also be necessary to enforce
the Company's intellectual property rights. Any infringement claim or other
litigation against or by the Company could have a material adverse effect on the
Company's business, financial condition and results of operations. (See Item 7.
Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations - FACTORS THAT MAY AFFECT FUTURE RESULTS.)
Steve- Thanks for the excellent posts! You seem to have a pretty good understanding of the whole situation.
Boogaloo |
