SPEX - On December 31, 2013, we acquired 101 patents and patent applications from Rockstar. The patents had been developed by Nortel Networks (“Nortel”) and acquired by Rockstar following Nortel’s bankruptcy in 2011. Rockstar was launched in 2011 as an intellectual property licensing company and manages a patent portfolio related to Nortel’s pre-bankruptcy technology and businesses. Rockstar was formed and is owned by Apple, Inc. (“Apple”), Microsoft Corporation (“Microsoft”), Sony Corporation (“Sony”), Blackberry Limited (“Blackberry”) and LM Ericsson Telephone Company (“Ericsson”). The December 2013 acquisition includes patents covering internet access, and video and data transmission, among other things. Many of the acquired Nortel/Rockstar patents are believed to be standard essential patents, meaning they potentially cover various industry standards in wide use (although there is no assurance that a court or third-party would agree with such description).
During August 2013, we acquired 222 patents in the fields of wireless communications, satellite, solar, and radio frequency and 2 patents in the field of pharmaceutical distribution from North South. The 222 patents had been developed by Harris Corporation, a leader in defense communications and electronics and acquired by North South prior to our acquisition of North South.
During July 2013, we acquired 7 patents in the field of mobile communications from Rockstar. This acquisition represented the first transaction believed to have been completed by Rockstar with any publicly traded company.
We presently have active lawsuits pending against AT&T, Uniden, VTech, T-Mobile and CISCO Systems, Inc. and intend to bring additional lawsuits during 2014.
