Via Licensing Corporation and licensors France Telecom, Inside Contactless, and NXP today announced the availability of a market maker incentive for their joint license agreement covering patents deemed essential to Near Field Communications (NFC). NFC consumer devices include mobile phones and other consumer electronics devices that are NFC-compliant and are not intended primarily to serve as a main resource to generate revenue for commercial services.
NFC technology provides short-range, standards-based wireless connectivity. It allows consumers to perform secure, contactless payments and other transactions, access digital content, and connect electronic devices.
The licensing program administered by Via is designed to provide convenient access to essential patents necessary for the practice of NFC. These patents can be licensed on an individual, per-patent owner basis with fees applicable on a per-patent family basis (an à la carte license) or through a joint license agreement covering an unlimited number of patents with capped fees per device (a pool license).
The Incentives
All manufacturers of NFC consumer devices that execute an NFC patent license agreement no later than September 30, 2008 will be in a position to select one of the following market maker incentives for the 5-year term of the license.
Discounts
Licensees under either the à la carte licensing program or the pool license may choose to benefit from a 40 percent discount on patent license fees for all units of NFC consumer devices sold during calendar year 2008. In addition, the following discounts on subsequent yearly royalty payments will be applicable, provided that the licensee sells at least one million units of NFC consumer devices during calendar year 2009:
| 2009: 30 percent discount |
| 2010: 20 percent discount |
| 2011: 10 percent discount |
| 2012: 5 percent discount |
Royalty Cap
Alternatively, licensees may elect to take advantage of a yearly capped royalty payment of four million dollars under the à la carte licensing program or eight million dollars under the pool license, when that license becomes available.
For additional information or to request a license, please email nfclicensing@vialicensing.com or visit www.vialicensing.com.
About Via Licensing Corporation
Via Licensing Corporation develops and administers patent licensing programs on behalf of innovative technology companies and for the convenience of licensees. Via Licensing Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:DLB) and benefits from the expertise, infrastructure, and strategic business relationships that Dolby has developed in more than 35 years of licensing into the consumer electronics and personal computing markets. Via Licensing is involved in the development and operation of licensing programs for both mandated and de facto or emerging standards. For more information about Via Licensing Corporation, please visit www.vialicensing.com.
Certain statements in this press release, including statements regarding the capabilities of NFC-capable products and the eventual availability of a joint patent license, are “forward-looking statements” that are subject to risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations, and as a result of certain risks and uncertainties actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. The following important factors, without limitation, could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements: risks associated with licensing technologies through joint licensing programs; risks associated with licensing industry standards technologies; risks associated with developing proprietary technology in markets in which “open standards” are adopted; market acceptance of NFC-capable devices; rapid changes in networking technologies; risks associated with the development of markets for wireless local-area networking services; and other risks detailed in Dolby’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports, including the risks identified under the section captioned “Risk Factors” in its most recent Periodic Report on Form 10-Q or 10-K. Dolby disclaims any obligation to update information contained in these forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
S08/19309
Contacts:
Jeanne Alford, 415-645-5245
jeanne.a@vialicensing.com
