Wi-LAN Secures More Licenses For Its U.S. V-chip Patent
Ottawa, Canada -/Wi-Fi Technology News/- Wi-LAN Inc. (TSX: WIN) ("Wi-LAN"), a leading technology innovation and licensing company, today announced that 2 additional manufacturers expected to participate in the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) digital television converter box coupon program have signed license agreements for its U.S. V-chip Patent.
Digital Stream Technology Inc. (Digital Stream), the manufacturer of the first coupon eligible converter box approved by the NTIA program, and Powerray Co., Ltd, (Powerray) join a list of licensees that are expected to play an important role in the transition to digital television in the United States. The agreements provide for the payment of running royalties for the life of the Patent.
Digital Stream manufactures digital set-top boxes, digital television PC turner cards and USB boxes with high definition quality signal receiving capabilities for customers around the world. Powerray is a digital set-top box manufacturer.
In the first phase of the converter box coupon program, any resident of the United States can order 2 coupons, valued at $40 each, to be used toward the purchase of an approved digital-to-analog converter box. The converter boxes will allow residents to continue using televisions that would otherwise not be able to receive free over-the-air television when analog broadcast ceases in the United States on February 17, 2009. The United States government has pledged up to $1.5 billion to provide over 33 million coupons. The NTIA began distributing coupons on January 1, 2008 and subsequently announced that it had received requests for over 2.4 million coupons by January 9, 2008.
Wi-LAN has signed license agreements for its U.S. V-chip Patent with companies responsible for the manufacture of at least 14 converter models. Wi-LAN's V-chip licensing team is identifying and in talks with manufacturers of the remaining approved models as well as manufacturers of several other models that are expected to be approved in the coming weeks.
"Our V-chip licensing team has been very productive since this program started," said Jim Skippen, President & CEO. "We expect to be well placed in this market by the time the NTIA converter boxes become available next month in an estimated 15-thousand retail establishments."
Other manufacturers who have licensed Wi-LAN's U.S. V-chip Patent and are expecting to supply product for the NTIA program include LG Electronics Inc., Falcon Digital Co., Ltd., Michley Electronics Inc., Shenzhen MTC Co., Ltd, Good Mind Innovation Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Tianle Digital Electric Co., Ltd., Dongguan Contel Electronics Co., Ltd., PCT International Inc., and Manhattan Digital.
119 licenses for Wi-LAN's Canadian or U.S. V-chip Patents have been signed with electronics manufacturers in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Denmark, Canada and the United States.
Wi-LAN has a large and growing portfolio of more than 280 issued or pending patents.
About Wi-LAN
Wi-LAN, founded in 1992, is a leading technology innovation and licensing company. Our portfolio of patented inventions applies to a wide range of electronics and communications products. Some of the fundamental technologies covered by Wi-LAN's patents include: CDMA, DOCSIS, DSL, GSM/EDGE, V-chip, Wi-Fi and WiMAX. Wi-LAN has licensed its intellectual property to a growing number of companies around the world. For more information: http://www.wi-lan.com.
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