NEW YORK, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Network-1
Technologies, Inc. (NYSE MKT: NTIP) announced today that it agreed
to settle its patent litigation against Polycom,
Inc. ("Polycom") pending in the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Texas,
Tyler Division, for infringement of Network-1's Remote Power Patent
(U.S. Patent No. 6,218,930). Polycom was one of sixteen
original defendants named in the litigation.
Under the terms of the settlement, Polycom will license the
Remote Power Patent for its full term which expires in March 2020, and pay a license initiation fee of
$5,000,000 for past sales of its
Power over Ethernet ("PoE") products. In addition, Polycom
will pay ongoing royalties based on its sales its PoE products,
including those PoE products which comply with the Institute of
Electrical and Electronic Engineers ("IEEE") 802.3af and 802.3at
Standards. $2,000,000 of the license initiation fee will be
paid within 30 days and the balance will be paid in three annual
installments of $1,000,000 beginning
in October, 2017. Payments due in October 2018 and October
2019 need not be paid if all asserted claims of the Remote
Power Patent have been found invalid.
In September 2011, the Company
initiated patent litigation against sixteen data networking
equipment manufacturers in the United States District Court for the
Eastern District of Texas, Tyler
Division, for infringement of its Remote Power Patent.
Network-1 previously reached settlement and license agreements with
eleven of the original defendants. The remaining four
defendants in the lawsuit are Avaya Inc., AXIS Communications Inc.,
Hewlett-Packard Company, and Juniper Networks, Inc. Network-1
seeks monetary damages based upon reasonable royalties.
The Remote Power Patent relates to, among other things,
delivering power over Ethernet cables to remotely power network
connected devices including, among others, wireless access points,
VoIP telephones and network cameras. In June 2003, the IEEE approved the 802.3af PoE
Standard. The IEEE also approved the 802.3at Power over
Ethernet Plus (PoE Plus) Standard, which increased the maximum
power delivered to network devices to 40-60 watts from the current
15 watts under the 802.3af Standard.
Network-1 currently has twenty-five license agreements with
respect to its Remote Power Patent, which include, among others,
license agreements with Cisco Systems, Inc., Extreme Networks,
Inc., Netgear Inc., Dell, Inc., Alcatel-Lucent USA, Sony Corporation, Shoretel Inc.,
Microsemi Corporation, Motorola Solutions, Inc., NEC Corporation,
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., and several other data networking
vendors.
ABOUT NETWORK-1 TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Network-1 Technologies, Inc. is engaged in the development,
licensing and protection of its intellectual property and
proprietary technologies. Network-1 works with inventors and
patent owners to assist in the development and monetization of
their patented technologies. Network-1 currently owns twenty-eight
(28) patents covering various telecommunications and data
networking technologies as well as technologies relating to
document stream operating systems and the identification of media
content. Network-1's current strategy includes continuing to
pursue licensing opportunities for its Remote Power Patent and its
efforts to monetize two patent portfolios (the Cox and Mirror
Worlds patent portfolios) acquired by Network-1 in 2013.
Network-1's acquisition strategy is to focus on acquiring high
quality patents which management believes have the potential to
generate significant licensing opportunities as Network-1 has
achieved with respect to its Remote Power
Patent. Network-1's Remote Power Patent has generated
licensing revenue in excess of $90
million from May 2007 through
June 30, 2016.
This release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements address future
events and conditions concerning Network-1's business plans. Such
statements are subject to a number of risk factors and
uncertainties as disclosed in the Network-1's Annual Report on Form
10-K for the year ended December 31,
2015 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including, among others, the continued validity of Network-1's
Remote Power Patent, the ability of Network-1 to successfully
execute its strategy to acquire high quality patents with
significant licensing opportunities, Network-1's ability to achieve
revenue and profits from its Mirror Worlds Patent Portfolio and the
Cox Patent Portfolio as well as intellectual property it may
acquire in the future, the ability of Network-1 to enter into
additional license agreements, the ability of Network-1 to continue
to receive material royalties from its existing license agreements
for its Remote Power Patent, the uncertainty of patent litigation
and proceedings at the United States Patent and Trademark Office,
the difficulty in Network-1 verifying royalty amounts owed to it by
its licensees, Network-1's ability to enter into strategic
relationships with third parties to license or otherwise monetize
their intellectual property, the risk in the future of Network-1
being classified as a Personal Holding Company, the continued
viability of the PoE market, future economic conditions and
technology changes and legislative, regulatory and competitive
developments. Except as otherwise required to be disclosed in
periodic reports, Network-1 expressly disclaims any future
obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking
statement contained herein.
Corey M. Horowitz,
Chairman and CEO
|
Network-1
Technologies, Inc.
|
(212)
829-5770
|
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SOURCE Network-1 Technologies, Inc.