MOSAID acquires 2000 Nokia patents to monetize Nokia IP

The Next Web reports that Nokia are transferring, for free, 2000 patents to MOSAID, Canada’s  leading patent licensing and intellectual property development company. The press release  says that MOSAID is acquiring Core Wireless Licensing that is the holder of the 400 patent families that consists of 2000 wireless patents and patent application by Nokia.

This is supposedly for the benefit of both Nokia and MOSAID as MOSAID will use those patents to generate revenue that will be shared to the ratio of 1/3 to MOSAID, 2/3 for Nokia.

This has been on the table since March. Should there be a change in control of MOSAID, then Nokia apparently has the right to require MOSAID to transfer patents to a third party.

I must admit, I don’t fully understand how this works. Are the 2000 patents under MOSAID ownership indefinitely? I suppose it would be better for Nokia to assert their IP rights and generate revenue to IP monetization, such as the 600M or so USD from Apple.

There’s actually some more info from the press release:

OTTAWA, Ontario – Sept 1, 2011 – MOSAID Technologies Incorporated (TSX:MSD) today announced that it has acquired Core Wireless Licensing S.a.r.l. (“Core Wireless”), a Luxembourg company that holds a portfolio of 400 patent families, consisting of approximately 2,000 wireless patents and patent applications originally filed by Nokia. Core Wireless will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of MOSAID.

The patents and patent applications cover technologies used in a wide range of mobile communications devices and services. One hundred of the patent families, consisting of approximately 1,200 patents and applications, have been declared essential to second, third and fourth-generation communications standards, including GSM (Global Systems for Mobile communications), UMTS / WCDMA (Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service / Wide-Band Code Division Multiple Access) and LTE (Long Term Evolution). The rest of the portfolio consists of approximately 800 wireless implementation patents.

“This is a transformative event for MOSAID which will drive significant revenue growth and shareholder value over the next decade, and will create exciting new opportunities for MOSAID as one of the world’s premier licensing organizations,” said John Lindgren, President and CEO, MOSAID Technologies.

Based on its extensive experience in the industry, MOSAID believes that revenues from licensing, enforcing and monetizing this wireless portfolio will surpass the Company’s total revenues since its formation in 1975.

“This is one of the strongest standards-essential wireless portfolios available on the market, and we are thrilled that we have acquired this outstanding portfolio and have the opportunity to monetize it,” said Lindgren.

MOSAID has been working towards this transaction since March 2011. Under the terms of the governing agreements:

• MOSAID will fund its acquisition of the portfolio through royalties from future licensing and enforcement revenues.

• MOSAID will record all future royalties received from monetizing the patents as revenue. Core Wireless will retain approximately one-third of gross royalties from future licensing and enforcement of the patents and will bear all of the costs associated with their administration, licensing, enforcement and monetization.

• The acquired portfolio is generally not transferable by Core Wireless. In the event of a change of control of MOSAID, the contract parties have the right, at their discretion, to require MOSAID to transfer the patents to a third party for nominal consideration, prior to the consummation of any such change of control. The recent commencement of an unsolicited offer for MOSAID constitutes a change of control for the purposes of this agreement.

 

• Core Wireless’s ongoing ownership of the portfolio is subject to minimum future royalty milestones.

The Next Web  via  wmpoweruser

Category: Nokia