NEW YORK, April 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Spherix
Incorporated (Nasdaq: SPEX) -- an intellectual property
development company committed to the fostering and monetization of
intellectual property and the advancement of technology, today
announced that the Company has filed two lawsuits for the
infringement of intellectual property formerly owned by Nortel
Networks. The cases were filed in the U.S. District Court for
the District of Delaware against
Level 3 Communications, TW Telecom and Fairpoint Communications
Inc. The infringement claims relate to U.S. Patent No.
RE40,999 ("the '999 patent"), entitled "VLAN Frame Format".
Patent '999 is, among other things, closely associated with the
practice of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
("IEEE") networking standard that supports virtual LANs (VLANs) on
an Ethernet network.
Anthony Hayes, Chief Executive
Officer of Spherix, stated, "The patent on which these new
litigations are based reflect inventions realized in the
laboratories of Nortel Networks as its engineers focused on
advancing technology to enable new products and services to benefit
the telecom industry and provide new and more robust services to
commercial enterprises and consumers. The Company was entrusted,
through a portfolio transfer transaction, to protect and monetize
this patent and others in a large group of patents with a similar
heritage. These patents were acquired from an affiliate of Rockstar
Consortium, a consortium of technology leaders who paid
$4.5B to acquire many of the
Company's patents, together with many additional patents ultimately
distributed among consortium members. At its peak, Nortel
grew to more than 90,000 employees, had a market capitalization of
nearly $300 billion, and had yearly
revenues approaching $30 billion. In
2000 alone, Nortel spent nearly $4
billion on research and development with over 25,000
research-and-development employees. Spherix's patent
portfolio has this exceptional pedigree and we will continue to
work to monetize these assets to bring value for our shareholders
and honor the creativity and vision of the inventors. We previously
announced to shareholders that we intended to expand our
monetization efforts and these suits are an early part of that
effort. The Company is dedicated to granting rights to use its
portfolio of industry leading inventions on fair and reasonable
terms and welcomes inquiries from relevant industry participants to
provide rights for use of such inventions without the necessity to
access to the courts to enforce its rights and seek appropriate
compensation. In fact, there are provisions contained within
these two new complaints offering the defendants the opportunity to
enter good faith negotiations for fair and reasonable licenses, in
lieu of the Company formally serving the defendants. If these
defendants, or other industry participants, would like to discuss
licensing opportunities, they can contact the Company or
Dean Becker, Chairman of Equitable
IP Holdings, LLC, at: deanbecker@equitableip.com."
About Spherix
Spherix Incorporated was launched in 1967 as a scientific
research company. Spherix is committed to advancing innovation by
active participation in the patent market. Spherix draws on
portfolios of pioneering technology patents to partner with and
support product innovation.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release constitute
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal
securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should,"
"believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue,"
"predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar
expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current
expectations, are forward-looking statements. While the Company
believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue
reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking
statements, which are based on information available to us on the
date of this release. These forward looking statements are based
upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various
risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set
forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "SEC"), not limited to Risk Factors relating to its
patent business contained therein. Thus, actual results could be
materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any
obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, except as required by
law.
Contact:
Investor Relations:
Hayden IR
Brett Mass, Managing Partner
Phone: (646) 536-7331
Email: brett@haydenir.com
www.haydenir.com
Spherix:
Phone: (703) 992-9325
Email: info@spherix.com
www.spherix.com
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SOURCE Spherix Incorporated