Wi-LAN Acquires Wireless Technology Portfolio
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
OTTAWA, Canada – July 21, 2009 – Wi-LAN Inc. (“Wi-LAN” or the “Company”) (TSX:WIN), a leading technology innovation and licensing company, today announced that the Company has acquired a portfolio of over 125 issued and pending wireless patents from NextWave Broadband, Inc. (NextWave), an early developer of mobile wireless broadband products.
“We are very excited about this acquisition from NextWave, a recognized leader and innovator in the development of technologies that enable wireless broadband systems,” said Jim Skippen, Chairman & CEO. “The acquisition of this valuable portfolio will increase our wireless portfolio to over 370 patents. Recently we also acquired wireless patent portfolios from Airspan, SR Telecom, TRLabs and Infineon. Having a larger wireless portfolio will enable us to offer even more value to companies that choose to license our wireless technologies.”
Wi-LAN believes that a number of the inventions protected by the issued and pending patents acquired from NextWave may relate to 4G wireless technology. 4G refers to the fourth generation of wireless communication systems. A 4G system is expected to upgrade existing communication networks and to enable the delivery of data, voice, and streaming multimedia to users on an "Anytime, Anywhere" basis and at much higher data rates compared to previous generations. Examples of 4G technologies are LTE and WiMAX.
This acquisition increases the size of Wi-LAN’s patent portfolio to over 670 issued and pending patents. In consideration for the acquisition, a payment will be made to NextWave in the third quarter of fiscal 2009. All terms of the acquisition agreement are confidential.
About Wi-LAN
Wi-LAN, founded in 1992, is a leading technology innovation and licensing company. Wi-LAN has licensed its intellectual property to over 190 companies worldwide. Inventions in our portfolio have been licensed by companies that manufacture or sell a wide range of communication and consumer electronics products including 3G cellular handsets, Wi-Fi-enabled laptops, Wi-Fi/DSL routers, xDSL infrastructure equipment, WiMAX base stations and digital televisions. Wi-LAN has a large and growing portfolio of more than 670 issued or pending patents. For more information: www.wi-lan.com.
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