InterDigital Enters Into Worldwide Patent License With Sharp; Agreement Covers 2G, 2.5G and All Modes of 3G Products
KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 4, 2001--InterDigital Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:IDCC) today announced that its subsidiary, InterDigital Technology Corporation (ITC), has entered into a worldwide royalty-bearing patent license with Sharp Corporation.
The agreement covers wireless handsets, modules and communications cards built to GSM, GPRS, IS-95 (including the CDMAOne and HDR technology specifications) and 3G standards, including both CDMA and TDMA based specifications. Under the agreement, ITC will receive a royalty on each licensed product sold by Sharp.
Sharp has paid ITC an advance royalty and, once that advance is exhausted, will pay additional recurring royalties to InterDigital as it sells licensed products.
Howard E. Goldberg, President and Chief Executive Office of InterDigital, commented, "The signing of worldwide, royalty-bearing multi-standards license agreements with Matsushita in April and Sharp in August confirms that the Company is executing on its strategic business plan to be an enabler of 3G products worldwide. Sharp is a world-class terminal unit manufacturer who we expect will be well positioned in the 3G market. We welcome them as a 3G licensee."
William J. Merritt, President and Director of ITC, stated, "This comprehensive new agreement with Sharp shows the growing momentum of our licensing program. Our licensing team on the ground in Asia, Europe and the United States has spent considerable time discussing patent licensing with a broad variety of equipment producers. Those efforts are beginning to bear fruit. This agreement also presents evidence of the changing environment in licensing as we move from 2G to 2.5G and 3G products. The applications for wireless terminal-end products, and thus our licensing opportunities, are expanding from the traditional mobile handsets to a multitude of devices, including PC communication cards, communicating PDAs, communications cradles, appliances and other terminal-end devices."
InterDigital will recognize royalty revenue as Sharp sells products licensed under the agreement in accordance with SAB 101. Sharp signed a worldwide royalty-bearing TDMA patent license with ITC in 1998 and is now licensed under both ITC's TDMA and CDMA patents around the world. |
