Again, you should still be ashamed. You know Cablelabs continues on two paths, one of them "likely" to include S-CDMA IF TERN delivers it, it's cheap enough, and it works as claimed.
I believe you'll find the wording says there is no guarantee CableLabs will include S-CDMA in a future standard and even if they should there's no guarantee it will be TERN's technology. The SEC docs go on to explain that Terayon would contribute those parts of their technology essential to the standard on a royalty-free basis.
In addition, there's a good discussion on what's likely to happen to the company should CableLabs choose the alternative standard --- which they did at their January meeting. If you want to talk about shame, perhaps you could talk about those who've refused to read the documents carefully, especially in light of Terayon's near-manic buying sprees to acquire alternative technologies.
There are two separate sections in Terayons' SEC filings regarding DOCSIS status. One uses the term "could" and one uses the term "likely." Both refer to a future standard that has not been named nor a date for initiating its creation set.
Both segments follow:
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In November 1998, CableLabs selected us to co-author DOCSIS 1.2, an enhanced version of the DOSCIS cable modem specification based in part on our S-CDMA technology. In September 1999, CableLabs indicated that it intended to proceed with the advanced PHY work on two parallel tracks: one for the development of a prototype based on our S-CDMA technology and one for the inclusion of Advanced TDMA technology, as proposed by other companies. In February 2000, CableLabs further clarified the status of the advanced PHY project regarding a separate release that will include TDMA technologies. In addition, CableLabs reiterated that it is continuing to work with us on the development of a DOCSIS specification that could include our S-CDMA technology. To that end, we have indicated to CableLabs that we would contribute some aspects of our S-CDMA technology to the DOCSIS intellectual property pool if and when a DOCSIS specification is approved that includes our S-CDMA technology. We would contribute our technology pursuant to a license agreement with CableLabs that we would execute at that time, and which contains the terms that CableLabs has established for the inclusion of any intellectual property from any source in the DOCSIS specifications. Under the terms of the proposed license agreement, we would grant to CableLabs a royalty-free license for those aspects of our S-CDMA technology that are essential for compliance with the DOCSIS cable modem standard. So-called "implementation know how" is not covered by this license-only those aspects of the technology that are essential to implementing a compliant product. CableLabs would have the right to extend
royalty-free sublicenses to companies that wish to build DOCSIS-compatible products. These sublicenses would allow participating companies to utilize and incorporate the essential portions of the S-CDMA technology on a royalty-free basis for the limited use of making and selling products or systems that comply with the DOCSIS cable modem specification Terayon has already joined the DOCSIS intellectual property pool and, as a result, we have a royalty-free sublicense that allows us to ship DOCSIS-compatible products which contain intellectual property submitted by other companies. The scope of this license would not extend to the use of the S-CDMA technology in other areas; only for products that comply with the DOCSIS
specifications. As a result, any of our competitors who join or have joined the DOCSIS intellectual property pool will have access to some aspects of our technology without being required to pay us any royalties or other compensation. If and when we submit S-CDMA to the DOCSIS Intellectual Property pool, we are in no way restricted from entering into royalty-bearing license agreements with companies that wish to use the S-CDMA technology for purposes other than implementing DOCSIS compatible products,
or that do not wish to enter into the DOCSIS intellectual property pool.
Further, some of our competitors have been successful in reverse engineering the technology of other companies, and the inclusion of S-CDMA in a future DOCSIS specification would expose some aspects of our technology to those
competitors. DOCSIS specifications are available on an open basis once they are approved, not only to companies that are members of the DOCSIS IP Pool. If a competitor is able to duplicate the functionality and capabilities of our technology, we could lose all or some of the time-to-market advantage we might otherwise have. Under the terms of the proposed license agreement, if we sue certain parties to the proposed license agreement on claims of
infringement of any copyright or patent right or misappropriation of any trade secret, those parties may terminate our license to the patents or copyrights they contributed to the DOCSIS intellectual property pool. If a
termination like this were to occur, we would continue to have access to some aspects of the DOCSIS intellectual property pool, but we would not be able to develop products that fully comply with the DOCSIS cable modem specification. Also, even if we were to be removed from the IP pool, we would not be prevented from developing and selling products that fully comply with the DOCSIS specifications, but we would not be able to do this with the benefit of a royalty-free license, which would increase the cost of our products, assuming we were able to obtain a license agreement for the required technology. Because of these terms, we may find it difficult to enforce our intellectual property rights against certain companies, even in areas that are not directly related to DOCSIS specifications and products.
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And from section VII, "Management's discussion. . ."
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The market for broadband access products and services is
characterized by rapid technological change, new product development product obsolescence and evolving industry standards. A significant element of our strategy is to advance industry standards and to extend our technology leadership and achieve rapid time to market. In November 1998, CableLabs selected us to co-author DOCSIS 1.2, an enhanced version of the DOCSIS cable modem specification based in part on our S-CDMA technology. In September 1999, CableLabs indicated that it intended to proceed with the advanced PHY work on two parallel tracks: one for the development of a prototype based on our S-CDMA technology and one for the inclusion of Advanced TDMA technology, as proposed by other companies. In February 2000, CableLabs further clarified the status of the advanced PHY project regarding a separate release that will include TDMA technologies. In addition, CableLabs reiterated that it is continuing to work with us on the development of a DOCSIS specification that could include our S-CDMA technology. To that end, CableLabs has requested that we submit a prototype of a DOCSIS system that incorporates an S-CDMA advanced PHY capability for testing. CableLabs has stated that if the testing of this prototype reveals that the S-CDMA advanced PHY works as claimed (including proper backwards compatibility and coexistence with the other aspects of DOCSIS), and if the costs for adding S-CDMA to DOCSIS products are in line with estimates, then it is likely that S-CDMA advanced PHY capabilities will be included in a future version of the DOCSIS specification. The prototype we submit to CableLabs may fail to demonstrate the level of performance that CableLabs seeks, even if it does meet performance expectations there can be no guarantee that CableLabs will incorporate the technology into a future version of DOCSIS specifications. In addition, if CableLabs does proceed to include S-CDMA in a future DOCSIS specification, there can be no guarantee that the DOCSIS S-CDMA specification will be the same as the specification we incorporated in the prototype submitted for tests, which may require us to further develop our prototype. We intend to develop future products that are standards compliant and are actively participating in the development of additional industry standards. As part of our efforts to offer standards compliant products we introduced a CableLabs certified DOCSIS 1.0 cable modem to the market in the third quarter of 1999.
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Pat |
