Fred chen of ESS is a smart man.Now we know why he partnered with Innovacom.Patent is for real.
SANTA CLARA, CALIF.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 4, 1997--A patent
for television set top boxes used in sending and/or receiving digital
audio and video data, which has implications for networking, i.e.
teleconferencing and Internet, as well as satellite tv, wireless
cable, video games and security systems, plus personal and
professional computers, has been assigned exclusively to InnovaCom,
Inc. (OTC BB: MPEG), designer and developer of MPEG-2 single chip
encoding integrated circuits, by its founder and chairman,
Mark C. Koz.
The company said the patent, issued July 1, 1997, was originally
issued to Koz, who filed the patent in 1992, prior to the founding of
the company.
International patent applications have been filed and currently
are pending. Koz has assigned the patent to InnovaCom in
exchange for one million shares of restricted common stock, valued at
$3 million, supplementing his existing block of controlling shares,
which are subject to volume controls and SEC reporting under Rule
144. The company believes it has negotiated this agreement in terms
that are favorable to its shareholders.
"The patent, No. 5,644,355, which is titled 'Adaptive Video
Subscriber System', is enforceable on all digital video set top boxes
produced using multiple compression standards, including those
designed for cable television decoding and for reception of DVB
television signals. Because our set top box patent was designed for
multiple video compression standards it represents the next
generation of set top boxes in the digital age. We believe the
patent will generate substantial revenues because of its
exclusivity," Rand Shrader, InnovaCom's chief operating officer
said. "We expect to aggressively protect the company's rights under
the patent."
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During the past year InnovaCom has completed marketing agreements
with or designed MPEG-2 product configurations for several companies
which could participate in the benefits of the set top box patent
protection. They are:
- Sun Microsystems -- Design of an MPEG-2 encoding board for its
UltraSPARC workstation.
- ESS Technology -- Joint development of MPEG-2 encoders for DVD
authoring systems and set top boxes.
- Digital Equipment Corporation -- Cross licensing agreement to develop
and share program interfaces for MPEG-2 encoding on Windows and
Windows NT.
- Mitsubishi -- Joint development of a DVD-R recording system.
- Litton's Fibercom Division -- Integration of InnovaCom's DV 2100
MPEG-2 board in its CAMVision-2 network video delivery system.
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