OTTAWA (OBJ) — Mosaid has opened up a brand-new market opportunity through the $70-million acquisition of a portfolio of 20 wireless technology patents from a Pennsylvania company.
The company announced on Feb. 22 that it had won a competitive bid from among 70 companies to acquire the portfolio of Wi-Fi and WiMAX patents from Agere Systems, and on Thursday held a conference call to talk about how it was now adding a new space to a portfolio primarily built on memory and networking technology patents.
“This is obviously a huge market opportunity because the wireless portfolio involves technology which can be used in mobile handsets, notebook computers, digital cameras and any other products which can communicate wirelessly,” said Mosaid chief executive George Cwynar.
Cwnar pointed out that the gaming console market alone is a $16-billion market and it is already 70 per cent Wi-Fi-enabled, while the huge mobile handset market is worth $145 billion and is largely unlicensed.
He said about one per cent of handsets are currently Wi-Fi-enabled, but estimated that this number could grow to approximately 30 per cent in five years, making the market a significant one.
Cwynar said the company would continue to grow its portfolio in the DRAM memory and networking patent markets, but noted that the value of wireless patents could equal or surpass that of its memory patent portfolio.
“We continue to believe in the tremendous opportunities in the DRAM market, but this gives us a whole new market to grow in,” said Cwynar.
He added that the company was also actively working on acquiring patents in the “ubiquitous” flash memory technology market.
Mosaid had 720 patents issued or pending at the end of its third quarter, up from 687 patents in the second quarter.
The new wireless portfolio consists of 20 issued patents in the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Great Britain and Canada, and three pending patents in the United States and Europe, with an average remaining life of 11 years for the key patents.
–Ottawa Business Journal
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