Some one asked about agreements with IBM this week I believe..
: IBM, 3Com Ink Licensing Deal
Aug 13, 1999 (Tech Web - CMP via COMTEX) -- Marching on in its bid to
become a top provider of computer and networking components, IBM signed
a cross-licensing pact with 3Com, giving each wide access to the
other's technology.
Under terms of the deal, IBM, in Armonk, N.Y., and 3Com, in Santa
Clara, Calif., will share patents on IBM technology including server
access, load balancing, Web caching, ATM/Ethernet/Token Ring,
network-interface cards and network management.
IBM will have access to 3Com technology that includes hardware and
software on handheld devices, network-interface cards, modem
technology, as well as routers, switches, voice-over-IP, and LAN
telephony.
The pact between the two companies is the latest major deal for the IBM
Technology Group. Earlier this year, it signed multibillion-dollar
deals with Dell Computer, in Round Rock, Texas; The Acer Group, in
Taipei, Taiwan; and EMC, in Hopkington, Mass., in which IBM will supply
computer and networking technology and components.
The division is also in talks with Compaq Computer, in Houston, about a
major outsourcing deal, including the licensing of IBM's
copper-processor technology, said executives at both companies.
IBM's agreement with 3Com is not the first between the two companies,
as both have had long-standing licensing agreements. Bruce Claflin,
3Com's president, is also a former top executive at IBM PC.
"What's occurring [is] each company is getting access to the patents of
the other," said Tony Baker, director of intellectual property and
licensing for the IBM Technology Group. Baker reports to Jim
Vanderslice, IBM's senior vice president for the Technology Group, and
is a force behind the partnering moves.
"We're excited about it," Baker said. "It just promotes the
relationship between the two companies."
Unlike the other megadeals, the 3Com agreement is not being measured in
dollars and cents.
"It gives me access to patents of 3Com's that I can incorporate into
technology products and sell in the OEM space," Baker said. "It
empowers them with the same ability. It gives freedom of action. I can
now take some of their innovation in the areas of modems, and use it in
the ideas I have," he said.
While the agreement gives IBM the right to use the technology patented
by 3Com, and vice versa, it is not automatic the companies can crank
out new SKUs immediately.
"I have to figure out the work with my development team and express it
in a physical entity," Baker said. "But it allows us to use products in
the future, with no concern [over violating legal boundaries]."
For example, 3Com last year was awarded a patent for a "Media connector
interface for use with a PCMCIA-architecture communications card," he
said.
The technology, an interface between a connector and a communications
card in a computer system for use with a 5mm PCMCIA card, is capable of
providing a direct-media connector interface for use in a laptop or
notebook, according to the text of the actual patent.
"If I were one of the [reseller] partners, we'd have a chance to build
more products," said Jean Myers, manager of strategic relationships in
networking systems business at 3Com. "We don't have to invent all of
the technology ourselves. We have an open view of patent portfolios."
An ongoing relationship between 3Com and IBM made it easier to get the
deal completed, Myers said.
"There's been a seven-year business relationship relative to selling
each other's products," she said.
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