WILN + a host of other IP mobile patent play companies....
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FWIW From Paradigm Capital on 7/13/2011
July 13, 2011
WiLAN WIN-T, WILN-Q
Paradigm Capital
B. Richards
Event
This morning we are providing an updated analysis on Wi-LAN.
Details
? Wi-LAN has delivered a remarkable five-year turnaround and is now worth $1B (up
from $38M in May 2006).
? A landmark global Wi-Fi settlement, combined with a variety of high-profile
Bluetooth and cellular license deals, has the company on track to generate more
than $100M in annual revenue this year.
? Impressively, the company has secured more than 250 license deals since 2006.
? WIN recently listed on the NASDAQ and was added to the S&P/TSX Composite Index.
? We expect the company to continue growing its patent pool, which now stands at
more than 1,400 patents, up from 20 five years ago.
? A stunning auction of Nortel’s 6,000 patents yielded $4.5B (or $750K/patent),
highlighting the new importance of technology patents.
? Revenue has increased dramatically from $2.1M in FY06 to $50.7M in FY10 (122%
CAGR.)
? Following a recent financing of $72M (net), cash sits comfortably at $193M or
$1.58/share (up from just $4M at the end of 2005).
? We believe, the stock remains inexpensive at 10x FY11 EPS (ex-cash) versus an
average of 33x for its U.S. comparables (range of 13–67x).
? WIN has numerous new initiatives in the courts, including cases related to Bluetooth,
cellular handsets, cellular base stations, cable operators and television vendors.
? The company is actively growing its new Gladios IP licensing partnership program,
with two deals announced thus far with Poynt (PYN-V, Buy,
.25 TP) and 01
Communique (ONE-V, NR), which offer excellent upside potential.
? Wi-LAN recently doubled its annual dividend from
.05/sh to
.10/sh.
? We forecast revenue and cash EPS of $116M and
.66 for FY11 (up from $51M and
.05 in FY10), $150M and
.80 for FY12 and $175M and
.81 for FY13.
Conclusion
Overall, Wi-LAN’s present and future seem brighter than ever. The company recently
announced some of the largest deals in its history and their positive impact should be
reflected in results going forward. There also exist plenty of opportunities with a robust
pipeline of current and potential patentinfringement cases and new strategic
partnerships. The IP sector is topical, garnering tremendous investor attention and
performing strongly YTD. We maintain our Buy recommendation and our $11.00 target
price based on 15x 2011 EPS plus cash.
Background
With the appointment of Jim Skippen as CEO in May 2006, Wi-LAN has undergone a
profoundly successful transformation achieving a number of milestones along the way,
including:
? In December 2005 (just prior to Mr. Skippen’s arrival), Cisco and Wi-LAN reached an
agreement with Cisco purchasing several patents and also receiving a license to WIN's
entire patent portfolio. On April 15, Wi-LAN successfully renewed its patent license
agreement with Cisco, which included new patents added since 2005. This represents
the company’s first renewal license and avoids any lapse in coverage.
? In December 2006, Nokia licensed WIN’s entire portfolio of patents. As part of the
deal, Nokia transferred to Wi-LAN 97 patents related to telecommunications and
ADSL technologies. We expect WIN to renew the Nokia license by year-end 2011.
? Earlier this year, highlighting the five-year transformation, Wi-LAN reached a
landmark global Wi-Fi settlement. The successful suit, originally filed in November
2007 against 22 defendants, represents a major coup for the company, both
financially and as validation of its strategic focus. This settlement is expected to
generate upward of $500M over six years, and with declining legal fees going
forward, we should see accelerating earnings growth and free cash flow (see our
Research Note dated August 26th, 2010, Closing in on a Massive Windfall?).
? WIN has diligently invested in bolstering its portfolio of patents, which has grown
from 20 patents in 2006 to over 1,400 patents and patentspending. Its patents relate
to Wi-Fi, WiMax, 4G (including LTE), DSL, Bluetooth, V-Chip and mobile telephony
technologies.
? In order to fund legal expenses and grow its patent portfolio, WIN has successfully
raised over $200M (gross) in seven separate equity financings since 2006. Most
recently, the company raised $72M in February, issuing 11.4M shares at $6.60. At the
end of Q1 the company had $193M in cash, albeit WIN subsequently acquired 60
patents related to mobile telephony from Glenayre Electronics for $8M in cash.
? Remarkably, since 2006, the company has signed more than 250 license deals with a
number of key product vendors. Licensees of WIN’s patents include ASUSTek,
Atheros, Broadcom, Fujitsu, Hon Hai, Infineon, Intel, LG, Marvell, Motorola, NEC,
Nikon, Nokia, Panasonic, RIM (RIMM-Q, Buy, $72.00 TP), Samsung, Sharp and Texas
Instruments.
Gladios IP
Wi-LAN recently launched a new initiative, creating subsidiary Gladios IP. Its mandate is to
partner with patent owners to help them extract value from their underutilized patents.
With its breadth of knowledge and deep pockets, WIN will manage and fund the entire
process (identify patent infringers, launch suits and pay for litigation) in exchange for a
share of any settlement revenue (expected to be 50%). While still in its infancy, Gladios IP
could provide upside revenue potential for WIN from valuable patents that it would
otherwise not be able to acquire, while also limiting its capital exposure. The company
entered into its first two partnerships in June with Poynt and 01 Communique, and we
expect many more developments here through 2011 and 2012.
Strong Patent Portfolio
Wi-LAN has a long heritage in the wireless market with its early work around W-OFDM
(Wideband Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing). Fifteen years later, W-OFDM has
become a critical part of wireless data and 4G technologies like LTE and WiMAX. Wi-LAN
was clever to acquire patent pools from a number of other early innovators in this area
and is now well positioned to exploit the merits of the technology with potential for
significant revenue upside. To date, four of the company’s patent families have generated
the bulk of revenue while more than 35 patent families have been added to the licensing
program. We believe a number of licensing opportunities exist in several large and
promising markets, including, but not limited to, telecommunications, fibre optics,
medical and white-space networking technologies.
Nortel Auction
On June 30, Nortel announced that it had sold its 6,000 patents to a consortium of six
high-profile technology companies for a remarkable $4.5B. The purchasing group
includes RIM, Apple, Ericsson, Sony, Microsoft and EMC. The price paid was 3x the
expected price and a staggering 5x Google’s stalking-horse bid of $900M. The patents
could be used for both offensive (pursuing patent infringers) and defensive measures
(fending off the claims of others). Companies like RIM have spent billions in just the last
year to license wireless technologies related to smartphones. We believe the highly
competitive auction could also trigger further M&A activity, which may involve WIN.
Nortel Patent Auction Relative Valuations:
? The $4.5B paid, values the 6,000 Nortel patents at $750K/patent.
? Wi-LAN holds a similar set of technologies, with 1,400 patents in total. At these levels,
WIN shares are worth $8.75/sh plus $1.58/sh in cash. The shares closed at $8.17
yesterday, giving the company a market cap of ~ $1B.
We would note that a per-patent dollar valuation based on other transactions is not a
realistic comparison tool but does provide us with a quick reference point and a reality
check on our other valuation metrics.
NASDAQ Listing
Wi-LAN began trading on the Nasdaq on June 1. The timing of the listing is fortuitous and
should benefit the company given recently heightened U.S. investor interest in the IP
sector. The wildly successful Nortel patent auction and seemingly daily high-profile
patent infringement lawsuits and settlements demonstrate the attractiveness of the
business model and of maintaining a robust portfolio of relevant patents. Shares of RPX
(RPXC-Q, NR), a U.S. comp and Nasdaq-listed company, are up 44% since their IPO on
May 4 while U.S. comps in general are higher than those of WIN (Figure 1).
S&P/TSX Composite Index Inclusion
On June 20, WIN was added to the S&P/TSX Composite Index, the headline index and
principal broad market measure for Canadian equity markets. The index comprises 260
members and 10 industry groups, of which the S&P/TSX Information Technology Sector
(1.71% of total index) is one and includes Wi-LAN, Celestica, CGI Group, MDA, Open Text
and RIM.
Next Catalysts
The company should remain very busy through 2011, 2012 and 2013. In the near term,
there are a number of possible catalysts for the stock, including the following:
? More licensing deals and Gladios IP partnerships
? Q2 results on August 4
? LG TV case
? Three new litigations (cellular, TV, cable)
? Further possible dividend increases
? Nokia license renewal (by year-end)
Valuation Metrics Cheap Relative to U.S. Comps
The company trades at 6.9x FY11 EV/Revenue, 10.5x FY11 EV/EBITDA and 12.4x FY11
EPS. These multiples are well below the U.S. comps for EV/EBITDA and P/E, with the
revenue multiple slightly higher than the average for U.S. comps, albeit below RPX. Wi-
LAN is significantly more profitable than the U.S. comps and is growing at a much faster
rate, which may explain the higher EV/Revenue valuation. With IP Licensing one of the
hottest sectors in technology, we believe there is significant upside for Wi-LAN given its
new U.S. listing and exposure to U.S. investors. VirnetX (VHC-N, NR) with 16 patents and
100 patent applications, is up 524% y/y following a successful patent infringement suit
against Microsoft.
Q2/FY11 Results Expected on August 4
We look for WIN to begin feeling the full positive impact of the global Wi-Fi settlements
in the quarter. With revenue from the settlements rolling in and greatly reduced
litigation expenses going forward, we look for the company to post healthy sequential
and y/y earnings growth. For Q2, we forecast revenue and cash EPS of $30M and
.18.
Forecasts
In FY12 and FY13, we conservatively forecast revenue of $150M and $175M. These are
baseline estimates accounting for previously announced settlements and regular new
business run rates, without consideration of any potential upside of big wins from new
litigations or acquisitions. While we forecast only a marginal increase in operating
expenses from FY12 to FY13 ($67.5M to $70.75M), our cash EPS estimate increases only
.01 (
.80 to
.81) as the income tax credits are depleted. With the global Wi-Fi
settlement, substantially lower litigation expenses going forward and no acquisitions, we
expect the company to generate robust free cash flow. As such, we are assuming the
company will increase its annual dividend from the current
.10/sh in FY11 to
.125 in
FY12 and
.20 in FY13. We would note that in our forecast this represents just 15% and
23% of cash flow from operations in FY12 and FY13, respectively.
Balance Sheet
The company maintains a very healthy balance sheet. Wi-LAN exited Q1 with $193M in
cash following a $72M financing, albeit WIN has spent $8M acquiring a portfolio of
patents. With no debt on the books the company has a net cash balance of $1.58/sh.
Patent Reform Update
This year, both the House and Senate have voted in favour of a bill to reform the U.S.
patent system. Given the backing of the Obama administration and the USPTO (U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office), the bill looks set to be signed into law; it would represent
the first major patent reform in 60 years. Highlights of the bill include:
? Shift from a first-to-invent to a first-to-file system (in line with most of the rest of
world).
? Change in fee structure, including fast-track billing to help process backlog.
? Amendments to the patent re-examination process, including a new post-grant
review system enabling challenges to the validity of a U.S.patent.
Overall, the U.S. patent reform seems fairly benign to WIN and does not change our view
on the company.
Risks
The company is not without its share of challenges and risks. Typical IP Licensing risks
include:
? Patent re-examinations could invalidate or limit the scope of WIN’s patents.
? Patent obsolescence and failure to acquire new patents could negatively impact
future revenue.
? Patent reform by Congress could make litigation more onerous and costly (noted
above).
? Department of Justice and other adverse court decisions could negatively impact
ongoing lawsuits and harm future revenue.
? Higher litigation expenses resulting from new patent infringement suits can
negatively impact future earnings.
? The unpredictable nature of litigation and timing of settlements can lead to lumpy
quarters.
? Patent infringement suits are time-consuming and their outcome is uncertain and
could potentially lead to investor frustration.
3 pending lawsuits AND clarification on Apple/ HP litigation
posted on Jul 13, 11 04:24PM Use the IP Check tool [?]
Currently, the significant active cases we have are:
1)...Wi-LAN v. Alcatel-Lucent et al(Eastern District of Texas) – defendants in this case are Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Sony-Ericsson, HTC;
2)...Wi-LAN v. LG (Southern District of New York) – defendant is LG.
3)...Wi-LAN v. HTC (Eastern District of Texas) – defendant is HTC.
Regarding Apple and HP...a clarification and a correction.
Apple and HP were named defendants in earlier lawsuits related to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies in laptop computers.
Semiconductor vendors including, but not limited to, Broadom, Intel and Marvell supplying chipsets to Apple and HP took the necessary licenses on behalf of their OEM partners...As such Apple and HP were dismissed from those lawsuits. Wi-LAN currently has no lawsuits pending against Apple or HP
In other words, there appear to be no pending cases by which we could obtain future settlements from Apple or HP, such cases having already been settled.
Google not shy about acquiring other patent portfolios.
Eric Schmidt, Google executive chairman, has criticised Apple, Microsoft and Research in Motion for spending richly on patents rather than innovating.
His criticisms come a week after those companies beat Google in the bidding for a collection of strategically vital patents from Nortel that cover wireless, 4G, data networking, internet and semiconductor technologies.
Google opened the bidding for the more than 6,000 Nortel patents in April with an offer of $900m. After a bidding war ensued, the search group was eventually outgunned by the consortium, which together paid $4.5bn. “The price exceeded our value threshold,” Mr Schmidt said.
“We chose not to bid at that level. I presume people spent $4.5bn to do something with them,” he said of the group that bought the bankrupt communication equipment maker’s patents. “They didn’t just wake up and say ‘oh, we’d like to have this patent portfolio’. I don’t know what their intent is, but we, as a company, worry that this is an attempt to use patents rather than to innovate.”
Google and other technology companies have become increasingly litigious when it comes to patents. Recent patent lawsuits between nearly every major developer of smartphone hardware and software have highlighted the need for groups to have robust patent portfolios.
But Mr Schmidt signalled that Google would not be shy about acquiring other patent portfolios at reasonable prices, while building out its own holdings. “Now that the value of patents appears to have increased a great deal based on these data points, there are lots of people that have patents that are available,” Mr Schmidt said. “We have a lot of patents. If the answer is tonnage, I think we’ll be fine.”
Google searching for Patent ammunition after Nortel loss
WASHINGTON — Google’s loss in bidding for the $4.5 billion (U.S.) portfolio of Nortel Networks Corp. patents last week means the Internet-search company will be looking to buy other inventions to build a bulwark against lawsuits targeting its Android system, patent brokers say.
“There are a lot of phenomenal portfolios for sale,” said Dean Becker, chief executive officer of ICAP Patent Brokerage in Palm Beach, Fla., the world’s largest patent seller. “Every operating company is in the market because of the expense, distraction and the potential financial risk of patent litigation.”
Google, with $36.7 billion (U.S.) in cash and securities as of March, is ramping up efforts to obtain patents to create what it calls a disincentive for companies to sue amid “an explosion” in litigation. Last month’s Nortel auction, the biggest of its kind, followed Google’s $900 million (U.S.) offer in April to buy the more than 6,000 patents owned by the Canadian phone-equipment maker that filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009.
While Google took itself out of the running as bidding prices rose, the company will keep searching for opportunities, mainly for patents related to smartphone technology, said Ron Epstein of Epicenter IP Group, a Redwood City, Calif.- based patent brokerage not involved in the auction.
“Assuming they were willing to spend at least the $900 million of their initial offer to achieve the result they were after, they’re going to get there,” Epstein said in an interview. The Nortel portfolio was viewed as “a unique asset that could never be repeated. That’s just not true,” he said.
Winning the Nortel portfolio, which went to a group led by Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple, would have boosted Google’s patent holdings almost ninefold from at least 701 today, according to U.S.Patent & Trademark Office records. The increase would have given Mountain View, Calif.-based Google more ammunition against lawsuits, which have increased since the world’s largest Internet-search company moved into areas such as mobile and desktop operating systems to broaden sales.
Oracle Corp. has sued Google directly, and Apple has gone after makers of phones that use Google’s Android mobile operating system, including HTC Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. Microsoft Corp. also has demanded licensing revenue from makers of products that run on Android, and has filed a trade complaint seeking to block U.S. imports of Barnes & Noble Inc.’s Android-based Nook reader.
The Android system introduced in 2007 is an open source program that relies on some nonproprietary features Google didn’t create and allows outside developers to modify the code.
“They find that, as you enter markets where there are other smart people spending lots of R&D dollars, you are going to use other people’s innovations,” Epstein said. “When it comes to buying access to the innovations, you need a coin to trade for that. They find that, ‘Damn, I’m going to have to obtain my own portfolio, so I can engage in the innovation negotiation market.’ ”
While the company wouldn’t comment for this story, Google executives have criticized the challenges of patent lawsuits.
In an April 4 blog posting, Google General Counsel Kent Walker described “an explosion of patent litigation, often involving low-quality software patents” and said the Nortel bid was going to discourage lawsuits against Google.
“One of a company’s best defenses against this kind of litigation is (ironically) to have a formidable patent portfolio,” Walker said in the blog post.
In a July 1 email he called the announcement of Google being outbid “disappointing for anyone who believes that open innovation benefits users and promotes creativity and competition.”
The winning group included some Apple competitors-turned-partners: Microsoft, Research In Motion Ltd., Sony Corp., Ericsson AB and EMC Corp., according to a Nortel statement.
In Oracle’s patent- and copyright-infringement lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco, the enterprise-software company claims Google copied technology related to the Java programming language and is seeking as much as $6.1 billion. Separately, Skyhook Wireless Inc., which makes location-finding software for the iPhone and other mobile devices, has accused Google of interfering with Skyhook contracts and infringing its patents.
Google hasn’t filed any countersuits against Oracle or Skyhook. Instead it’s basing its defenses mainly on challenging the patents or denying infringement. The company has also urged changes through court filings and by lobbying Congress to make it easier to challenge patents.
“Questionable patents do not foster innovation,” Google wrote in a February filing on behalf of Microsoft’s failed bid to make it easier to invalidate patents at trial. “Instead, they block and impair others from innovating.”
BNN/ Brian Acker ("Model" $14.73) ("Target" $11.13)CAD/USD Conversion.
Brian Acker on BNN (July 8, 2011) said ....
His "model" for WiLan/WIN is projected at $14.07 (same as $14.63 for WILN?)
His "target" for WiLan/WIN is projected at $10.70 (same as $11.13 for WILN?)
Acker was bullish on WiLan and sheepishl that he couldn't buy it inasmuch as he is restricted by a minimum criteria ithat limits him to higher cap stocks...presumably above 1.1 Billion CAD/USD?
The BNN link to the WiLan portion of the interview/question/answer is...
http://watch.bnn.ca/#clip497943 (Brian Acker part 3) (NOTE: at the 4:50 mark)
IP Sector P/E Multiple Comparison...
Barclay's initiated coverage of Acacia Research this week indicating that more research firms and analysts believe that the IP licencing model is attractive.
In the report as is customary they show comparable valuations for similar companies. Wi-Lan is included in this list which shows the following Price/Earnings multiples of the various companies based on estimates for 2012 earnings:
Acacia 18.1x
ARM Holdings 47.9x
CEVA Inc. 34.4x
Dolby Labs 14.5x
Interdigital 17.5x
MIPS Tech 16.1x
Qualcomm 17.0x
ROVI 19.2x
RPX Corp. 37.0x
Tessera 8.7x
Average 23.0x
Wi-LAN 10.7x
WiLan's P/E multiple is based on the consensus eps # for 2012 of .80.
This number is low and could easily increase to $1.00+/- in the next six months.
Another Investor's thoughts on WILN v HTC related to QCOM
QCOM is mentioned in the 2/11/11 CIBC report as potentially infringing WiLAN's patents #'s 802, 897, 068.
This would go back WAY farther in QCOM's history and cover every QCOM chipset in every handset sold in the U.S.and that's a huge number.
=============================
From CIBC's report April 2, 2007:
The CDMA market has seen strong growth, with subscribers growing across all
regions of the world for the past 10 years at a CAGR of 54%. The majority of
subscribers are located in Asia at 44%, followed by North America with 34%,
Latin America at 20% and the remainder in Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA).
The number of global subscribers has grown from 4.25 million in 1997 to over
350 million today. Our analysis of Wi-LAN’s opportunity in the CDMA industry
incorporates only the North American market from 2007 to 2015. We believe
this is conservative considering the number of CDMA products that were sold
prior to this timeframe. In the past, courts have awarded retroactive licensing
fees, which would be upside to our current numbers. The historical subscriber
rates provide a good indication of how pervasive this technology is across the
world.
Wi-LAN’s Licensing Revenue Opportunity For CDMA Handsets
Wi-LAN holds CDMA patents for the North American region and has said it will
initially focus its licensing efforts on the system-level companies (i.e., mobile
handset OEMs). We have valued the licensing revenue opportunity at
US$630 million from 2007 to 2015. We arrive at this forecast by taking the
number of CDMA handsets in the market (including cdmaOne, CDMA2000,
WCDMA, HSDPA and CDMA2000 1xEV-DO) from 2007 to 2015 and applying an
ASP of $125 today, declining by 5% annually. We then assume that 35% of the
market is in North America and adjust this number to remove Nokia (which
represents 32% of the market), as it has already been licensed. We have applied
a royalty rate of 1% to establish the amount of licensing revenue from these
customers. We think this is a fair estimate, considering Qualcomm has received
royalties as high as 5% for its CDMA patents. We have not given Wi-LAN any
revenue for infringement from the period of 1997–2006.
Due to the lumpiness and lack of visibility into when licensing deals will be
signed we have made assumptions about how much of the market will be
licensed each year to drive our revenue model for our DCF. We assume that by
2008 35% of the remaining market will be licensed and that this number will
grow to 50% by 2011 (see Exhibit 9 for our analysis).
CDMA Mobile Handset Targets
There are many potential infringing companies in the CDMA market. However,
the bulk of the market is represented by the top five OEMs and this is where
Wi-LAN will focus its efforts. SI rated all of the patents pertaining to CDMA as
“A-rated,” with excellent licensing potential. Now that Nokia has taken a license
to this portfolio, we are more confident that others will also step forward. We
believe that the CDMA portfolio offers the best short-term potential for licensing
deals.
Some of the largest target CDMA licensees include: Motorola (MOT–SP) (18%
market share), Samsung (13% market share), LG (7% market share), Sony
Ericsson (ERIC–Nasdaq) (6% market share) and Siemens (SI–NYSE) (5%
market share). We have listed a number of potential targets that Wi-LAN may
have already, or could, put on notice in Exhibit 10.
======================================
In exhibit 10 mentioned above, Qualcomm is listed both as a target for product and chipset infringment. I suppose that some of the settlements with handset mfgs in the EDTX litigation may have settled on past CDMA infringment even where Qualcomm chips were used. But others have not.
CIBC only ascribes a settlement value for HTC infringment at about $12 million (as opposed to TXN at $67 million). They have ZTE down for $23 million.
The wildcard with QCOM is who is paying for Apple devices using CDMA now being sold by Verizon?
Wi-LAN vs. HTC....Going to a Jury trial?
http://www.wilan.com/Theme/WiLan/files/documents_litigation/wilan-vs-htc/DI_011%202011%2006%2027%20HTC%20and%20Exedea%20Answer%20and%20Affirmative%20Defenses_v001_c74j79.pdf
Thoughts from another investor......
Perhaps Wi-LAN wanted to isolate HTC and use them as a conduit to QCOM.
If Wi-LAN can push HTC to a jury verdict for treble damages on the handset value that this could pressure QCOM to take a Wi-LAN license or potetnially lose the HTC business.
QCOM likely would only cover the "chip value", not the "handset" value, in any setlement.
FWIW...$4.5 Billion Nortel Auction Under Investigation by Canadian Government.
Federal Industry Minister Christian Paradis is asking his staff to investigate whether Canada’s foreign investment rules should apply to the landmark US$4.5-billion sales of 6,000 patents once owned by Nortel Networks Inc.
On Wednesday, the newly minted Minister of Industry announced his office would begin a review of the sale of the Nortel patents to a group of six companies — including Apple Inc., MicrosoftCorp. and Canadian BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. — should be subject to a review.
“The Minister has asked his officials to look into how the Investment Canada Act may apply to this transaction,” Lauren Hébert, a spokeswoman for the ministry said.
All acquisitions of Canadian businesses valued in excess of $312-million by non-Canadian entities must be determined to be of a “net benefit” to Canada through a formal government review, according to the law.
Last November, then-Industry Minister Tony Clement blocked a US$38.6-billion hostile takeover bid of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan by Australia-based BHP Billiton Ltd., saying the deal was of “no net benefit” to Canada. It was only the second time in Canadian history the government had invoked the rule.
It is unclear whether Nortel’s patent portfolio constitutes a business under Canadian law, a requirement for a review to take place.
Read it on Global News: Nortel patent sale could face federal review
FWIW.Paradigm Capital projects 6-9 month technical target of $12.00 for Wi-LAN
Wi- LAN Inc.
(WIN-T)
Paradigm Capital Inc, July 06, 2011
Barry Richards
? A landmark WiFi victory is translating into huge revenue and earnings growth in 2011. Declining legal fees
should further boost EPS. Continuing patent acquisitions and a NASDAQ listing have also helped drive the
stock to new 10 year highs.
? The stock appears inexpensive in absolute terms and relative to U.S. comps. Litigation with LG later this
year also provides a potential catalyst for the stock. WIN's large wireless patent portfolio could draw
attention on the back of the remarkable Nortel patent auction.
Technical:
Wi-LAN, Inc. (6–9-Month Outlook)
The uptrending weekly MACD buy signal supports a sustainable climb above 60 in the RSI. This underlying
intermediate momentum strength indicates that the current consolidation between $6.50 and $8.00 is
preparing for a new advance above the 2007 and recent 2011 highs. Technical target measures to the $12.00
zone.
01 Communique receives TMC Labs Innovation Award
01 Communique Awarded INTERNET TELEPHONY's 2011 TMC Labs Innovation Award
Wednesday, July 06, 2011 07:30:00 AM
I'm InTouch Meeting Honored for Exceptional Innovation
TORONTO, July 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - 01 Communique Laboratory Inc. (TSX: ONE - http://www.01com.com) announced today that TMC named I'm InTouch Meeting as a 2011 TMC Labs Innovation Award winner presented by its publication, INTERNET TELEPHONY.
"We released I'm InTouch Meeting just recently in March, 2011 and are pleased to have received this prestigious award in such a short timeframe," said Andrew Cheung, President and CEO for 01 Communique. "This award is a testimony to the way in which we designed I'm InTouch Meeting to be an easy to use way to conduct online meetings. We listened to our customers and designed in all the key features required to host online meetings in a secure and cost effective manner."
The TMC Labs Innovation Award honors products that display innovation, unique features, and significant contributions toward improving communications technology. The TMC Labs Innovation Awards are granted to those companies demonstrating ground-breaking contributions to the industry.
"The Innovation Award exemplifies the best and the most unique products and services that this industry has to offer. 01 Communique has proven their commitment to quality and the further development of the IP communications industry through its I'm InTouch Meeting service," stated Tom Keating, CTO and TMC Labs Founder, "Congratulations to the entire team at 01 Communique for earning this great honor. I look forward to seeing more innovative solutions from them as they continue to contribute to the future of IP communications," Keating added. The 2011 TMC Labs Innovation Award highlights will be published in the July and August 2011 issues of INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine.
I'm InTouch Meeting is a secure web-based service, built on 01's patented technology, that enables businesses to cost-effectively conduct online meetings with employees and clients anywhere in the world. With I'm InTouch Meeting, users can share their computer's screen with up to 15 attendees to conduct online sales presentations, training sessions and meetings. The service supports Windows-based operating systems (XP, Vista and Windows 7), has text and VoIP audio chat, whiteboard capabilities, ability to assign the mouse or keyboard to anyone attending the meeting and allows users to schedule multiple meetings.
Google left Searching for Patents after Nortel Loss
Google Left Searching for Patents After Nortel Loss
By Susan Decker - Jul 5, 2011 12:00 AM ET
Google Inc. (GOOG)’s loss in bidding for the $4.5 billion portfolio of Nortel Networks Corp. patents last week means the Internet-search company will be looking to buy other inventions to build a bulwark against lawsuits targeting its Android system, patent brokers said.
“There are a lot of phenomenal portfolios for sale,” said Dean Becker, chief executive officer of ICAP Patent Brokerage in Palm Beach, Florida, the world’s largest patent seller. “Every operating company is in the market because of the expense, distraction and the potential financial risk of patent litigation.”
Google, with $36.7 billion in cash and securities as of March, is ramping up efforts to obtain patents to create what it calls a disincentive for companies to sue amid “an explosion” in litigation. Last week’s Nortel auction, the biggest of its kind, followed Google’s $900 million offer in April to buy the more than 6,000 patents owned by the Canadian phone-equipment maker that filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009.
While Google took itself out of the running as bidding prices rose, the company will keep searching for opportunities, mainly for patents related to smartphone technology, said Ron Epstein of Epicenter IP Group LLC, a Redwood City, California- based patent brokerage not involved in the auction.
“Assuming they were willing to spend at least the $900 million of their initial offer to achieve the result they were after, they’re going to get there,” Epstein said in an interview. The Nortel portfolio was viewed as “a unique asset that could never be repeated. That’s just not true,” he said.
Oracle, Apple Lawsuits
Winning the Nortel portfolio, which went to a group led by Cupertino, California-based Apple Inc. (AAPL), would have boosted Google’s patent holdings almost ninefold from at least 701 today, according to U.S. Patent & Trademark Office records. The increase would have given Mountain View, California-based Google more ammunition against lawsuits, which have increased since the world’s largest Internet-search company moved into areas such as mobile and desktop operating systems to broaden sales.
Oracle Corp. (ORCL) has sued Google directly, and Apple has gone after makers of phones that use Google’s Android mobile operating system, including HTC Corp. (2498) and Samsung Electronics Co. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) also has demanded licensing revenue from makers of products that run on Android, and has filed a trade complaint seeking to block U.S. imports of Barnes & Noble Inc.’s Android-based Nook reader.
The Android system introduced in 2007 is an open source program that relies on some nonproprietary features Google didn’t create and allows outside developers to modify the code.
Best Defense
“They find that, as you enter markets where there are other smart people spending lots of R&D dollars, you are going to use other people’s innovations,” Epstein said. “When it comes to buying access to the innovations, you need a coin to trade for that. They find that, ‘Damn, I’m going to have to obtain my own portfolio, so I can engage in the innovation negotiation market.’”
While the company wouldn’t comment for this story, Google executives have criticized the challenges of patent lawsuits.
In an April 4 blog posting, Google General Counsel Kent Walker described “an explosion of patent litigation, often involving low-quality software patents” and said the Nortel bid was going to discourage lawsuits against Google.
“One of a company’s best defenses against this kind of litigation is (ironically) to have a formidable patent portfolio,” Walker said in the blog post.
In a July 1 e-mail he called the announcement of Google being outbid “disappointing for anyone who believes that open innovation benefits users and promotes creativity and competition.”
‘Questionable Patents’
The winning group included some Apple competitors-turned- partners: Microsoft, Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM), Sony Corp. (6758), Ericsson AB and EMC Corp., according to a Nortel statement.
In Oracle’s patent- and copyright-infringement lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco, the enterprise-software company claims Google copied technology related to the Java programming language and is seeking as much as $6.1 billion. Separately, Skyhook Wireless Inc., which makes location-finding software for the iPhone and other mobile devices, has accused Google of interfering with Skyhook contracts and infringing its patents.
Google hasn’t filed any countersuits against Oracle or Skyhook. Instead it’s basing its defenses mainly on challenging the patents or denying infringement. The company has also urged changes through court filings and by lobbying Congress to make it easier to challenge patents.
“Questionable patents do not foster innovation,” Google wrote in a February filing on behalf of Microsoft’s failed bid to make it easier to invalidate patents at trial. “Instead, they block and impair others from innovating.”
Buying Patents
Google has increased its patent portfolio as well, receiving as many as 282 patents last year, up from 3 in 2004, according to a search of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office’s database. It’s received 141 so far this year as of the June 28.
The number of Google patents obtained in 2010 was about half of the 563 Apple received last year, and a fraction of Microsoft’s 3,121, according to figures compiled by the Intellectual Property Owners Association.
In all, 701 patents have been assigned to Google over the years, with the most recent one for “detecting and rejecting annoying documents.” Another from March is for Google Doodles, which alters the name of the company to match a day’s theme.
Google is typical of young technology companies that, early on, try to avoid patents only to find they can’t compete effectively without them, Epstein said. The company is often compared with Microsoft, which 10 years ago ranked 44th among companies receiving U.S. patents, and has been No. 3, behind International Business Machines Corp. and Samsung, for the past two years.
Google has “the same arrogance that Microsoft had,” said Ron Laurie, managing director of Inflexion Point Strategy LLC in Palo Alto, California, which counsels companies on purchasing intellectual property. “They had this combination of thinking patents were from the devil, while they were on a mission from God. After getting attacked so often, they started getting it.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Susan Decker in Washington at sdecker1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Allan Holmes at aholmes25@bloomberg.net
report
WiLan Hires Matt Pasulka as VP Litigation
WiLAN Builds Patent Litigation Management Team
Company hires Matt Pasulka to bolster litigation bench strength
Press ReleaseSource: Wi-LAN Inc.On Tuesday July 5, 2011, 7:30 am
OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - 07/05/11) - Wi-LAN Inc. ("WiLAN" or the "Company") (TSX:WIN - News) (NASDAQ:WILN - News),today announced that the Company has expanded its management team withthe appointment of Mr. Matt Pasulka to the position of Vice President,Patent Litigation.
"I am very pleased to welcome this exceptionalsenior executive to our team," said Jim Skippen, Chairman & CEO."His expertise is an important contribution to building the overallWiLAN team."
Mr. Pasulka joins WiLAN on July 5, 2011 and bringsover 14 years' experience in corporate and intellectual property ("IP")law in both private sector corporations, law firms and the U.S.military. In his role as Vice President, Patent Litigation he willmanage the Company's patent litigations and assist in licensing support.In addition, Mr. Pasulka will assist with the negotiation and draftingof patent acquisition and licensing agreements.
"The significantexperience that Matt brings to WiLAN will broaden and bolster our patentlitigation, licensing and patent management capabilities. Workingclosely with other members of our team, Matt will be instrumental inhelping to drive the future growth of our business," said BillMiddleton, Senior Vice President & General Counsel.
Prior tojoining WiLAN, Mr. Pasulka held the position of Senior Counsel at St.Jude Medical / AGA Medical Corporation where he managed complex patentlitigations in U.S. and foreign jurisdictions. Mr. Pasulka also servedin senior legal positions at Sikorsky Aircraft Company and with MartinMarietta Materials, Inc. where he was responsible for all aspects of thecompany's IP including the negotiation and drafting of licenses,identification of patentable technology and the management of outsidelaw firms.
He has a distinguished record of service with the U.S.military since graduating from the West Point Military Academy with aBachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. Mr. Pasulka is a registeredU.S. Patent Attorney and obtained his law degree from the George MasonUniversity School of Law. He also holds a Bachelor of Science inElectrical Engineering degree from Fairfield University.
Email just sent to Tyler Burns (WiLAN IR)
Tyler...
I am an American Investor in (WILN:Nasdaq), and have been extraordinarily pleased with the company's performance since my entry in mid May 2011 (initially with WILIF:OTC)
Would it be possible to send a list of ...WiLan's
1) Defendants still in litigation now.
2) Defendants who have agreed to settle but there has still been no settlement announced.
I am finding it difficult to clearly ascertain this information from the website.
I am NOT asking for settlement amounts.I realize that is proprietary...I just need a simple list...
Thank you in advance..
Apple, Dell, D-Link,Hewlett Packard, Sony, Toshiba STILL pending
On Monday, January 31, 2011, Wi-LAN Inc. announced that the Company had reached settlement terms with...Marvell Semiconductor, Inc.,
2Wire, Inc.,
Belkin International, Inc.,
Netgear, Inc., Lenovo (United States), Inc.,
Westell Technologies Inc.
WiLAN expects to reach settlements with remaining defendantsApple, Inc.,
Dell, Inc.,
D-Link Systems, Inc.,
Hewlett Packard Company,
Sony Electronics Inc.
Toshiba America Systems, Inc.
I do stand corrected as it relates to INTEL. They have since settled...
But to the best of my knowledge , the above have not settled.
Please correct me if I'm wrong. I am not without fault and could have missed something...John/jtdiii
Apple, Dell, HP,Intel, Motorola,Sony STILL pending
From the Canadian press...
"Wi-Lan soared 9 per cent Monday after the company announced it had settled a lawsuit with Texas Instruments Inc. over Bluetooth technology.
On the Toronto Stock Exchange, Wi-LAN shares were up 70 cents at $8.48 in late morning trading Monday.
Wi-LAN sued Texas Instruments in April 2010 as part of a broader series of suits against several of the world's high-tech heavyweights over allegations of Bluetooth technology infringement.
Apple Inc. , Dell Inc. , Hewlett-Packard Co. , Intel Corp. , Motorola Inc. and Sony Corp. were among the defendants.
Wi-Lan alleged the companies were violating a U.S. patent by selling products such as cellphones and laptops that contain Bluetooth technology, which is used widely for short-range wireless communications."
Wilan's settlement today with TI worth $60 Million+/-
According to a CIBC research report, the estimated value of the Texas Instruments settlement should be approximately $60 Million over 6 years (paid quarterly of course)....
That yields $10 Million per year
With Wi-Lan's high operating leverage, assume that 70% goes to the bottom line, totalling $7 Million. (an assumption from a more learned investor than myself)
Given 122 Million shares outstanding, that gives an estimated additional EPS of 0.057.
Assume a "conservative" multiple of 12 (it should be 15, but whatever)
This yields a shareprice increase of .68
As of right now, the share price (WIN, not WILN) is up .66
So........
With all that is still in the pipeline this year....(Apple, LG,..... etal)
With all that is in the pipeline next year ( 3GPP, Cable, Gladios, .....etal)
WIN/WILN is (even at these record highs).....just plain dirt cheap.
Back up the truck.
From a thoughtful EDIG shareholder on another board.
"I'll tell you what Fred should do. He should discuss the business with the thousands of shareholders to let them know the state of the business. The communication should be based on the Markman ruling as we have no assurance that the decision will be amended or reversed to reflect a more favorable result for edig.
It's time to elaborate on the present and what the edig team is doing to make the future a successful venture for the shareholders. To accommodate shareholder needs, a full disclosure of the Nunchi project and its impact on the business along with the status of future partnerships and when they expect to make the process operational, a time line.
In addition, a sharing of the technical aspects of the patents that have been filed to provide shareholders a progress report and the applications as they may relate to in house products or partnerships, Again a status of the projects along with an estimated time line for implementation.
It's time to show the shareholders that a business plan has been developed and where the company is relative to achieving each of the elements within the plan.
An update on how to attract institutional investing and when those actions will be put into place has been an issue that needs to be resolved.
There is plenty to talk about outside of the patent suit/Markman ruling and these issues need to be addressed to help stabilize the company.
Lastly, he needs to assure the shareholders that DM is addressing the recent Markman ruling with 100% effort.
Fred needs to grow up and communicate and provide transparency with the shareholders.
Without visibility and total support the share price and company may not recover, bad for shareholders and management/BOD."
WILN's ALL TIME intraday high of $8.89 and closing high of $8.55
As we all know,The Toronto exchange was closed 7/1 and Nasdaq will be closed 7/4.
It will be intersting to see what happens with WIN on Monday.
The last BNN interview (June 9, 2011) with CEO Jim Skippen.
An oldie (3 weeks old)...but worth a relook.
Nice job by CEO Jim Skippen...
http://www.bnn.ca/News/2011/06/09/Patent-licenses-provide-revenue-predicitablity-Wi-Lan-CEO.aspx
link to 6/29/2011 BNN Market Call
WiLan is on at the 2:50 mark.
http://watch.bnn.ca/market-call-tonight/june-2011/market-call-tonight-june-29-2011/#clip493238
Oberweis Asset Management has 563,000 shares($4,813,650)of WILN.
Saturday, 02 July 2011
WI-LAN (WILN): Wireless patents
Jim Oberweis Jr., The Oberweis Report
WI-LAN, Inc. (WILN) acquires rights to patent portfolios and licenses patent portfolios for its own benefit and on behalf of various business partners.
The company owns the rights to over 1,300 patents or applications for patents and has licensed patents to companies that sell products utilizing Wi-Fi, WiMAX, LTE, CDMA, DSL, DOCSIS, Bluetooth, and V-Chip technologies, among others.
Licenses are typically granted over a fixed period of time, and licensees pay license fees on a pro-rata quarterly basis. The company has over 240 licensees, including recently signed agreements with Cisco, Intel, Broadcom, and Marvell.
Some of these recent agreements resolved pending litigation, which the company believes will result in lower litigation expense over the near-term, which should help drive earnings growth.
The company plans to grow its patent portfolio through patent acquisitions, license partnerships, and corporate mergers and acquisitions.
In the company’s latest reported first quarter, sales increased approximately 65% to $26.3 million from $15.9 million in the first quarter of last year.
WI-LAN reported earnings per share of $0.05 in the latest reported first quarter versus $0.01 in the same quarter of last year.
Clients of Oberweis Asset Management own approximately 563,000 shares.
Perennial Investors now has over $1.3 million of WILN stock.
Perennial Investors, a US investment firm, as of today, is now holding 153,100 shares of (Nasdaq:WILN) stock.
With a WILN's market cap of over $1 Billion now, and what many consider to be benefits from the $4.5 Billion Nortel auction, other U.S. investment houses will surely follow.
WILN continues to be in the hands of stronger investors, and the August Conference Call should be huge (JMHO)
Neverending.
I began a long process of selling everything I had in the "E" company in mid May and put it all into WILIF/WILN.I never owned the "P" company.I am an HL on the "other" board for WIN.
Wilan acquires "Glenayre" patents for $8 million cash
OTTAWA, CANADA--(Marketwire - June 29, 2011) - Wi-LAN Inc. ("WiLAN" or the "Company") (TSX:WIN) (NASDAQ:WILN), today announced that it has acquired the "Glenayre Patents", from Glenayre Electronics, Inc. for $8 million in cash.
The comprehensive portfolio includes 60 issued U.S. patents plus foreign counterparts that pioneered critical aspects of modern mobile telephony.
"This acquisition interested WiLAN because the patent portfolio includes inventions that anticipated a number of the mobile phone functions commonly in use today," said Jim Skippen, Chairman & CEO. "Specifically, we believe that patents in the portfolio address aspects of mobile messaging and wireless data transmission and reception that are relevant to today's mobile phone market."
With this acquisition, WiLAN increases its patent portfolio to over 1400 issued and pending patents.
From a poster on another board.
I admit that I don't keep the best records but from my notes, today's settlement only counts as one of the CO 19.
Settled Prior (5)
Wolverine
Ikegami
Roland
TEAC (DBA Tascam)
Summit (DBA Polaroid) - based on PACER motion to dismiss
Settled Today (1)
Pentax - collectively referred to as "Pentax" (Pentax of America / HOYA Corporation / HOYA Corporation USA)
Remaining (13)
Canon
Kyocera
Nokia
Panasonic
HTC
Coby Electronics
DXG Technology
Leica Camera
D&M Holdings US Inc (Marantz)
Imation
Sakar
VTech
Samson Technologies (DBA Zoom)
So Wilan has a San Diego Research Office?
Is it Cygnus, run by Ken Stanwood, formerly of Ensemble Communications from whom WIN bought the important Wimax patents?
http://www.wi-lan.com/Theme/WiLan/files/documents_financial/WiLAN%202010%20Annual%20Report%20Final.pdf
"We continued to build upon WiLAN’s rich history of innovation with our ongoing development of enabling technologies for white space networking. In 2010, WiLAN, with the support of a team of engineers based in San Diego, California, also engaged in the development of technologies that aid the deployment of LTE in picocell and femtocell networks. The inventions being generated by our research and development efforts are targeting large markets and we are optimistic that they will prove valuable to industry."
http://www.cygnusbroadband.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2&Itemid=2
The future of mobile connectivity is being driven by skyrocketing demand for rich, compelling multimedia content. LTE technology deployed in picocells or femtocells brings many benefits to operators focused on building cost-effective networks to deliver a superior user experience.
http://www.cygnusbroadband.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&Itemid=4
Ken Stanwood has extensive experience in Broadband Wireless technology development including protocol and algorithm development, intellectual property, and standardization. He has been in telecommunications for 28 years and has been involved in developing the foundational technology for 4G broadband wireless for the past 12 years.
He was a co-founder of the WiMAX Forum, vice-chair of 802.16 and the first technical working group chair of the WiMAX Forum. He holds 39 US patents in broadband wireless communications.
Mr. Stanwood was CTO at Ensemble Communications where he was a primary designer of the layer 2 technology that became the basis for much of the 802.16 MAC layer (WiMAX).
FYI?FWIW...Additional VP Position Open Now at Wilan
http://www.wi-lan.com/company/Careers/Job-Posting-Details/default.aspx?JobPostingId=fcd3e391-ca47-47f9-84f0-0a72b3db6b6f
Were all invested in a company with exponential potential.
I firmly believe that it is just "common sense" that the rest of the market (the institutional investors/funds) will soon realize this as well. I've tried to summarize my reasoning for this in the following 8 thoughts.(all JMHO)
1) The 6/27 Nortel auction will certainly shed some new light on the true "value" of the IP world, and will be a nice wake-up call. (ie..what if Nortel patents do end up fetching $2.5 billion, or more?). There is bound to be some upward "IP value perception and/or assessment" thereafter of Wilan's own patents going forward, particularly given the fact that Wilan's business model is a well oiled machine without the "lumpiness" of others in our sector, and we have a number of huge settlements still pending..
2) The S&P 500 TSX index inclusion (officially on 6/20) may well continue to necessitate more institutional/fund buying, which essentially will "take shares out of the market", further mitigating some of the "weak hands" of some of the existing shareholders. It will be interesting to see if any "carryover" from Friday's last minute and highly unusual volume on both TSX (8 million+/-)and Nasdaq (400,000+/-) will flow into next week in general and on Monday in particular.
3) At some point "soon", Jim Skippen will have to announce the "interesting" acquisitions intended for that $200 miilion cash warchest. Wilan now has aslmost 25% of it's market cap in cash, and the investment community is surely interested in what will happen with that $200 million currently just a "pedestrian" return of interest. In my opinion, our CEO will have "under-promised and overdelivered" when this announcement is finally made public.
4) Could there be an "an alliance"...or "partnership" with "whoever" on "some" of the world class Nortel patents?...Who knows for sure?...The U.S. Justice Department has already raised an eyebrow and dangled a sword as it relates to the issue surrounding either Google...Apple...or Microsoft's ability to have an "unfair" advantage going forward should either one of them "ultimately" take possession of the entire portfoliol in one fell swoop. The winner may have already decided "in advance" to form an agreement with a "lesser" company' to "hand off" different portions of various patent baskets in order to proactively "preempt and USDOJ future "interference".. Who knows?
5) As mentioned in point #3, a significant and interesting acquisition proclaimed by CEO Jim Skippen in the "not too distant future" is still out waiting to be fulfilled, and I'm relatively sure he wasn't talking about either of the Poynt/01 Communique announcements involving Gladios, although those 2 agreements would not have been crafted had our skilled management not surmised that the return on those patents would further accelerate revenues at an acceptable cost.
6) The company is presently valued "significantly" below the multiples of others in their peer group...that will obviously change soon.
7) There are still a number of "very significant settlements" still pending. The delayed timing of these settlements may have actually worked to Wilan's advantage given the "correction" after the Nasdaq listing and the logical assumption that the 6/27 Nortel auction may "raise the bar" on Wilan's own pending settlements with Apple, Dell, HP, Comcast, Time Warner, etal.
8) Wilan is basically a very "lean" company. With only 40 employees, the bulk of our employees are esoterically skilled in the legal/technical/IP arena. With an existing revenue ratio of $2.5 million per employee and a recent history of mitigating legal expenses, our 5-6 year revenue model with contracts with "quarterly fixed payments" and/or "per unit" revenue , should become highly appealing to those who finally discover our own little jewel. Wilan is in the "sweet spot" of mobile techmology and more.
All JMHO...
John/jtdiii
Neverending..I must have misunderstood your post...My apology.
Sorry...We're all in this together. No reason to quibble, that's for sure. Again, I apologize for my misunderstanding of your post.
We are investors in one of the greatest companies there is...and the rest of the market (the institutional investors/funds) will soon realize this as well.
1)The 6/27 Nortel auction will shed some new light on the true "value" of similar patents...that will be a nice wake-up call.(ie..if Nortel patents are worth $2.5 billion (who knows?), then what are ours worth?...and our business model is a fine oiled machine...without the "lumpiness" of otheres in our sector.
2) The S&P 500 TSX index inclusion will continue to add more buying...essentially "taking shares out of the market". It will be interesting to see any carryover from Friday to happen next week and on Monday in particular.
3) At some poit soon, Jim Skippen will start to invest that $200 miilion cash...the investment community can hardly get excited about $200 million sitting around drawing "pedestrian" interest.jim Skippen's no dummy...he knows this..He will under-promise and overdeliver on his acquisition hints.
4) An alliance/partnership with 'whoever" on "some" of the world class Nortel patents?...Who knows...The U.S. justice Dept has already raised some eyebrows on the issues surrounding either Google/Apple/microsoft...taking it all in one fell swoop. There "may" be a need for an "alliance' with a "smaller company"...Who knows?
5) A significant and interesting acquisition....promised to happen in the "not too distant future" by James Skippen, and I'm sure he wasn't talking about the Poynt/01 Communique patent partnership....although that was a nice thing for Gladios, LP
6) The company is presently valued "significantly" below the multiples of others in their peer group...that will obviously change soon...
Neverending...We both have a lot to look forward to...Again, I apologize for the misunderstanding...be well...and stay strong...
John/jtdiii
Top 25 alleged IP infringers and The RIM/Dolby litigation.
________________________________________________________________
As of January 1, 2011, PatentFreedom has identified and profiled over 380 distinct NPEs (a number which continues to increase). Since 1985, these NPEs have been involved in litigation with over 5,000 different operating companies in over 4,000 actions. And the pace of activity is clearly increasing.
As the figure below shows, the top 25 companies have been relentlessly pursued by NPEs.
No. Company Name 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Total
1 HP 8 13 20 17 17 75
2 Apple 3 12 12 23 20 70
3 AT&T 6 16 9 10 16 57
4 Sony 5 10 11 16 13 55
5 Microsoft 6 16 13 14 5 54
6 Dell 8 10 8 17 10 53
7 Samsung 8 14 11 6 12 51
7 Motorola 4 12 14 10 11 51
9 LG 3 12 9 7 15 46
10 Verizon 3 14 8 7 10 42
11 Panasonic 4 9 9 12 6 40
12 Nokia 4 10 9 11 5 39
13 Time Warner 6 9 5 3 14 37
14 Google 3 10 7 10 6 36
14 Cisco - 13 6 7 10 36
14 HTC 3 5 10 7 11 36
17 Sprint Nextel 3 11 8 6 6 34
18 Toshiba 4 9 5 8 7 33
19 Deutsche Telekom 2 12 5 5 6 30
19 RIM 2 3 11 6 8 30
21 Acer 4 7 8 7 3 29
22 IBM 3 7 2 10 5 27
22 Yahoo 2 11 2 7 5 27
24 Oracle 6 4 7 8 1 26
24 Fujitsu 3 3 7 8 5 26
________________________________________________________________
FYI/FWIW....Additionally, in case you missed this.....
Just a day after Nokia agreed to take Apple's cash and make peace, yet another skirmish broke out. On Wednesday Dolby International sued Research in Motion for allegedly infringing patents that are essential to the BlackBerry's audio capabilities.
The suit may not be on par with the clashes between Apple, Nokia, HTC, Samsung, and Motorola, but it just goes to show that smartphones are going to be the IP litigation bar's meal ticket for a long time to come.
Dolby claims that "virtually all" of RIM's competitors—Apple, HTC, Motorola, and Nokia, among others—have licensed its patents, which allow smartphone users to listen to compressed audio with high fidelity.
Faced with RIM's infringement, Dolby Internationalis seeking damages for past use of its technologies and to enjoin the sale of each and every one of RIM's devices using the patents in suit.
Dolby says it reached its licensing deals with other smartphone makers without filing a suit. Litigation was the last resort after RIM declined to pay for the use of Dolby's technology.
Licensing revenue is a major component of Dolby's business model, making up 77 percent of the $922.7 million it grossed last year. The patents named in the suit against RIM are available to use through a third-party licensing company.
Neverending.So JS "buys" 280K shares.RJS "buys" 50K shares.
Then,JS disposes of 50%(140K)and RJS disposes of 50%(25k shares)
It's called Canadian taxes.
Neverending...is YOUR glass "always" half empty ?
Maybe you should transfer all of your funds to Gold.
Which BTW, I'm NOT saying is a bad idea for just about anyone now.
Neverending...Lighten up there fellow investor.(LOL)
John/jtdiii
8 MIL.WIN shares traded 6/16 due to S&P 500 TSX inclusion on 6/20.
And (WILN:Nasdaq) alone traded 400K +/- shares on 6/16
Monday's action should be interesting for both WIN and WILN as WIN officially becomes a member of the S&P 500(TSX) INDEX.
Almost the same as Wilan's shares being "taken out" of the market due to almost "mandatory" buying by Canadian institutional funds
Good for WIN...good foe WILN...(?)
Comments from another investor on the "beneficial" effects of the Nortel auction
The winning Nortel bid might surprise all of us, it could well be more than $2.5 bil.
Microsoft, Google and Apple are all cash rich and want to remain that way.
Microsoft did not show interestbefore in these patents because they thought that they had a perpetual use of them.
It appears though that with a potential change of ownership of Nortel's patents they may not.
With these "big three" on the hunt for safeguarding their money making operations plus other interested parties, the auction could be most interesting.
The total package of Nortel's heirloom patents are too costly for Wilan, but the successful bidder may sell some of it off to a interested third party (i.e. Wilan).
Secondly, the bigger the winning bid is the more Wilan will benefit.
It will increase the valuation of Wilan's patents and will more than likely help negotiating better settlements and licensing its patents.
Pending legislation in Congress germane to Poynt..and Wilan.
The strategy of placing the location-based fence around individual users (Poynt) seems significantly superior to the competing notion of putting the fence around the business.
From WSJ via Fierce Wireless:
Legislation mandates companies get consent before sharing location data
Two bills introduced Wednesday in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate propose new restrictions on how both government agencies and private firms can collect and implement user location data. Specifically, the bills mandate that companies including Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and their software developer partners obtain express consent from smartphone and tablet users before sharing information with third parties.
The Location Privacy Protection Act, spearheaded by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), vows to close loopholes in federal law to guarantee that consumers know what location data is collected and give them the option to decide whether they wish to share it. In a statement, Franken said he proposed the bill after determining that existing laws are insufficient to protect information stored on mobile devices.
"Geolocation technology gives us incredible benefits, but the same information that allows emergency responders to locate us when we're in trouble is not necessarily information all of us want to share with the rest of the world," Franken said. "This legislation would give people the right to know what geolocation data is being collected about them and ensure they give their consent before it's shared with others." Organizations including the Center for Democracy and Technology, Consumers Union, the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Center for Victims of Crime and the National Consumers League have endorsed the legislation.
The Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance (GPS) Act, proposed by Sen. Ron Wyden (D.-Ore.) and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R.-Utah), would require law enforcement agencies to get a warrant to track a citizen's location via mobile phone or special tracking device. The bill proposes the creation of a legal framework designed to give government agencies, commercial entities and private citizens clear guidelines for when and how location-specific data can be accessed and used. Existing federal laws governing location tracking are notoriously murky, with some major legislation dating back to 1986--a lifetime ago in relation to recent technological innovations.
The furor over location tracking exploded earlier this year after British researchers reported that Apple's iPhone and iPod devices had recorded location and time-stamp data since the mid-2010 release of the iOS 4 software update, effectively creating a comprehensive log of all user movement and activities during that time. Apple later explained that iOS devices are gathering location information to maintain a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers in the user's vicinity, enabling an iPhone to more rapidly and accurately calculate its location when requested. Apple added that calculating a phone's whereabouts via only GPS satellite data can take up to several minutes, while its approach can slash the process to a few seconds.
Apple said the iPhone data collection resulted from a software bug patched earlier this month with the release of its iOS 4.3.3 update. iOS 4.3.3--compatible with the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, the third- and fourth-generation iPod touch and the iPad and iPad 2--reduces the size of the location database cache from up to a year to about a week, halts cache backup to iTunes and deletes the cache entirely when users disable their device's Location Services feature.
Last month, Apple and Google appeared before the U.S. Senate to defend their mobile device location tracking policies, but lawmakers expressed skepticism over whether the companies are adequately protecting user privacy. At that time, Franken said he maintains "serious doubts about whether [privacy] rights are being respected in law or in practice."
neverending...
I do sincerely believe that "at least" one of the dispository claims will go in our favor,and probably both, and I don't wear rose colored glasses.
The delay "may" mean that she has already "concluded' in our favor on both and is rendering a decision on the remaining claims as well..Who knows?
John/jtdiii
PS.Neverending.Try the agoracom WIN board. I'm a Hub Leader there.
Patent 7961815 issued to Wilan on 6/14/2011.Hello Smartphones!
Although patent USPTO #7961815 was "assigned" to Wilan on 09/12/2007, the status has been "pending" and without a patent number until just day before yesterday...06/14/2011, the official "issue" date.
This is a "very important" patent, and has been very much worth the 2 year wait.
Wilan "may" be able to license #7961815 without having to resort to litigation.
Nearly every single smartphone sold going forward will be infinging on this patent.
Upon monetization,#796185 should increase Wilan's revenues "substantially"..
We can all recall Jim Skippen speaking about Wilan's future revenues being "many" hundreds of millions of dollars. The word "many" is not the same as "several" (as in 2-3)
This patent, finally issued on 6/14/2011 could be the reason for his choice of words.
Folks, this is huge!
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=wi-lan.ASNM.&OS=AN/wi-lan&RS=AN/wi-lan
The patent portfolio
http://assignments.uspto.gov/assignments/q?db=pat&qt=rf&reel=019872&frame=0582&pat=&pub=&asnr=&asnri=&asne=&asnei=&asns=
http://assignments.uspto.gov/assignments/q?db=pat&qt=rf&reel=020988&frame=0313&pat=&pub=&asnr=&asnri=&asne=&asnei=&asns=
http://assignments.uspto.gov/assignments/q?db=pat&qt=rf&reel=022221&frame=0633&pat=&pub=&asnr=&asnri=&asne=&asnei=&asns=
Wi-lan's press release (back 1n 2007 when Wilan originally acquired the patent)
http://www.wilan.com/company/news-and-events/News-Details/2007/Wi-LANAcquiresEssentialWirelessPatentPortfolio/default.aspxreport
There is no interlocutory appeal in a Markman Hearing ruling.
Neverending....
FYI, the case has to go to a jury trial and only after the jury's verdict can the original Markman Hearing ruling itself be appealed...as it was in the Phillips Case.(coincidentally with Judge Krieger as the presiding judge)
Judge krieger is NOT taking the EDIG/MH lightly. There's too much at stake. She doesn't want another "not my finest moment" deja vu. (JMHO)
I further believe that the delay gives further strength to the notion that EDIG will prevail on at least one, if not both dispository construction claims....and perhaps the rest as well.
It has been postulated that the "average" turnaround time from MH court date to actual MH ruling on "complex" IP cases (in non-rocket docket venues)is between 140-150 days.
We are soon approaching the 140 day period and "perhaps" Judge Krieger has "already" decided on the two dispository claims and is working on the remaining ones now as well...Nobody knows....
I am a large EDIG shareholder. Nontheless, being as "objective" as possible, I think we have a good chance of prevailing.I would NOT be betting against EDIG on this case.
If we prevail, the "real" conversation becomes the depth and the magnitude of the settlements themselves, because there would then probably not be an actual jury trial (JMHO)....The "settlements" are all that really matter.
John/jtdiii
PS/OT...Neverending.I'll be seeing you on the WIN board....
Wellington West....Wilan:Recommendation:Strong Buy
Gladios Partnerships Gain Traction
• WIN enters licensing partnership with Poynt and 01 Communique. While no terms were disclosed, Gladios will help fund licensing programs with patent holders in exchange for ~50% of the royalty.
• Gladios could significantly add to revenue in the medium-term.
Given the early stages in the partnerships, revenue upside could be a few years away. We do not expect significant opex from WIN in the near-term.
• Additional licensing could lead to upward guidance revisions in F11. We believe WIN will license the remaining portfolios (V-Chip, Bluetooth and 3G). Patent acquisitions/partnerships could accelerate growth.
• Reiterate Strong Buy & C$10.00 target, implying 15x C11 EPS. Catalysts for the stock are additional patent acquisitions, new licensing deals and additional partnerships through the Gladios division.
Investment Summary and Outlook
Wi-LAN’s management have proven their ability to execute on their
licensing program and have graduated to a leading patent licensing powerhouse with over 250 licensees.
Wi-LAN has signed 254 companies (including 123 V-Chip, 121 wireless, and 10 DSL) and we expect thismomentum to continue through 2011.
We expect new deals across the remainder of the portfolios (Bluetooth, V-Chip and 3G), which could lead to upward revisions to 2011 guidance.
Generally, Wi-LAN has been conservative in providing guidance and we believe 2011 will be no different. Armed with ~$193 million in cash, we believe growth could be accelerated through acquisitions.
We reiterate our Strong Buy rating and C$10.00 price target. Our DCF assumes Wi-LAN has successfully signed an additional ~$400 million in wireless revenue over six years and includes further growth in 2012 for additional licenses from the remaining Bluetooth, V-Chip and 3G portfolios.
Given the two recent strategic partnerships under Gladios are in the early stages, we have not included this into our model. Our DCF-based target assumes Wi-LAN will generate $114 million in revenue in 2011, then $130 million by 2012 and $140 million by 2013.
Our DCF-supported price target of $10.00 implies 15x our 2011 EPS estimate of .65, which is in-line with the peer group.
Gladios Provides another Avenue of Growth
Gladios IP division enters licensing partnership with Poynt and 01 Communique. The Gladios business model takes a revenue sharing approach between Wi-LAN and other patent holders who lack the expertise or financial ability to monetize their IP portfolio.
Whilst the terms and conditions of the recent Poynt and ONE arrangement were not disclosed, during the Q1 conference call management alluded to a 50/50 revenue split with Wi-LAN fronting licensing development expenses, which could include litigation costs.
Given the early stages of the recent strategic partnerships, we have not included any upside from Gladios into our model at this time.
Poynt’s IP portfolio provides WIN with exposure to location based mobile application patents. Poynt is a leading provider of mobile local search services and has three patents relating to delivering location-based offers, services and coupons to mobile smartphones based on GPS location and user profile.
The global mobile advertising market is expected to be worth $3.3 billion in 2011, growing to $20.6 billion by 2015, according to Gartner. Mobile advertising can be broken down into mobile message, mobile display and mobile search advertising.
An emerging trend in mobile application hinges on content discovery that is based on user geography.
This trend is expected to transform the traditional pull-based search to a more geographic-centric content push paradigm.
The Gladios model provides WIN with the opportunity to reap the monetization benefits from the location based mobile advertising segment without having to purchase an entire patent portfolio.
ONE’s remote access patents could provide WIN with IP monetization opportunities in remote access, web conferencing and related technologies.
In our initiating coverage report for 01 Communique titled “USPTO Ruling Sets Stage for Licensing Program, A Large Deal Could Re-rate Shares” (published in January 10th, 2011), we highlighted the royalty opportunities for ONE’s patent portfolio.
The remote access and support market is expected to be worth $671 million by 2012, according to projections by IDC and Gartner. ONE is currently in litigations with remote access market leaders, Citrix and LogMeIn, on a contingency basis with law firm Baker & Hostetler.
Therefore, IP monetization opportunities for the Gladios partnership are limited to ~30% of the remote access market. We believe the web conferencing market could provide significant opportunities as ONE has not tapped the licensing potential of this market.
The web conferencing market is expected to be worth $2 billion by 2014, almost three times the size of remote access and support market.
ONE’s ‘479 patent is limited to web conferencing software that permits remote access capabilities such as remote desktop and application sharing, as opposed to simple streaming of a web presentation.
Reiterate Our Strong Buy Rating and $10.00 Target
Our DCF-based target of C$10.00 implies 13x our 2011E EPS estimate of .65, ex the cash of $1.58 per share.
We assume a discount rate of 13% and assume the Company generates $140 million revenue in 2013 and $150 million revenue until 2016.
We have assumed a 3% terminal growth rate given the growth opportunity in the large portfolios that remain to be licensed.
We have assumed Wi-LAN begins paying cash taxes mid 2012.
Given the early stages of the recent strategic partnerships, we have not included any upside from Gladios into our model at this time.
On a P/E basis, our target implies Wi-LAN trades inline with the peer group at 15x 2011 EPS.
The stock is currently trading at 11 x 2011 P/E, versus the peer group at 15x.
Given the growth potential in the Bluetooth, V-Chip and 3G portfolios, as well as additional opportunities at Gladios, we believe Wi-LAN’s actual earnings power may turn out to be much higher, supporting a P/E multiple at least in-line with the peers.
How many other $290 million "i4is" are out there?
On Thursday and Friday respectively, 2 decisions were finalized that may collectively serve to empower Wilan even more.
1)The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of i4i in it's $290 million win over Microsoft.
2)Wilan announcing a licensing agreement with Poynt, a company that has already developed technologies that have helped make multi-billion dollar markets a reality.
Poynt is one of "hundreds" of small companies yet to achieve the critical mass necessary to singlehandedly keep the big infringers from stealing their valuable patents.
Poynt's CEO stated "WiLAN's licensing capabilities are second to none."
And Jim Skippen once said.."I am building a patent powerhouse. It is up to you the shareholder whether you want to come along for the ride or not."
How many other $290 Million "i4is" do you think are out there?
It's great to be a Wilan shareholder !
John/jtdiii