Wistron Corp (緯創) yesterday signed a licensing agreement with US patent company Intellectual Ventures Management LLC (IV), part of a new intellectual property (IP) shield for the world’s No. 3 contract laptop computer maker as it braces for a growing number of patent disputes in the global technology industry.
Wistron became the third Taiwanese company to sign an agreement with IV, joining HTC Corp (宏達電), the world’s No. 5 smartphone maker, and local LCD panel maker Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管) in their search for IP support in face of growing legal threats from their global rivals.
HTC’s intensive patent lawsuits with Apple Inc in the US were the latest in a long line of legal cases Taiwanese firms have faced recently and even global electronics heavyweights such as Apple and Samsung Electronics Co have signed deals with IV to enrich their patent portfolio in order to protect their interests.
IV, headquartered in Washington, expects to unveil another new deal with a Taiwanese firm by the middle of next month at the earliest, Donald Meriono, a senior vice president of global licensing sales at IV, said during a media briefing yesterday in Taipei.
The latest deal would provide Wistron access to IV’s patent portfolio of more than 35,000 assets that include patents in the fields of displays, materials, software, TV and semiconductors. Based on the agreement, the PC company also becomes a member of IV’s “IP for defense” program.
“The signing of this licensing agreement embodies Wistron’s strong commitment to adhere to its IP policy and its continuous efforts to strengthen Wistron’s patent portfolio,” Michael Wu (吳重銘), general counsel at Wistron, said in a press release. “By entering into a strategic alliance with Intellectual Ventures, Wistron gains efficient access to patented technologies which can mitigate Wistron’s exposure to future risks and further help Wistron to stay competitive in the OEM [original equipment manufacturer] or ODM [original design manufacturer] business.”
In October last year, Wistron settled its latest patent infringement lawsuit with Japanese electronics company Toshiba Corp by signing cross-licensing agreements and paying an unspecified amount of damages after Toshiba filed a complaint to the US International Trade Commission in January last year.
To help local companies deal with the growing number of legal battles, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院), backed by the government, announced earlier this month that it would form a IP management company, called IP Bank, following in the footsteps of the South Korean government’s formation of Intellectual Discovery Ltd last year.
Meriono said it is difficult to say how Asian governments’ efforts to develop their own IP management firms would affect the global IP business, but in general, he said Taiwanese companies would still have to find non-governmental solutions given the growing competition between Taiwanese and Chinese companies.
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