Patent Law Practice Center

Lenovo Buys Mobile Patents for $100 Million from Unwired Planet

Unwired Planet, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPIP) and Lenovo (HKSE: 992) recently announced that Lenovo has agreed to purchase a portfolio of patents from Unwired Planet and to take a term-based license to Unwired Planet’s patent portfolio. The aggregate consideration for the combined transaction is $100 million payable in cash. The transaction is expected to close by the middle of April.

Under the terms of the agreement, Lenovo is now licensed under Unwired Planet’s intellectual property portfolio, which covers standard essential, implementation, and application layer technology for mobile devices. Following the transaction, Unwired Planet’s portfolio will consist of approximately 2,500 issued and pending US and foreign patents. The patent purchase consists of 21 patent families owned by Unwired Planet, including patents for 3G and LTE mobile technologies and other important mobility patents.

“We are pleased to have reached an agreement with one of the world’s leading global technology companies,” said Philip Vachon, Chairman of Unwired Planet’s Board of Directors and head of its Intellectual Property Committee. “We wish Lenovo continued success going forward.”

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Kodak Closes $848 Million Financing Deal

Several weeks ago, Kodak announced that it closed its previously announced $848 million financing with members of the Steering Committee of the Second Lien Noteholders and other holders of Kodak’s Senior Secured Notes.

Under this new financing agreement, Kodak borrowed a total principal amount of approximately $473 million and converted $375 million in Senior Secured Notes into loans. The proceeds from this financing, together with proceeds from the much discussed sale of the Kodak imaging patent portfolio, will be used to repay the term loans outstanding under Kodak’s existing debtor-in-possession credit agreement, make an adequate protection payment to holders of the Senior Secured Notes, and support ongoing business activities.

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Buying Patents by the Pound: Today’s Patent-Acquisition Boom and Tomorrow’s Antitrust Consequences

The market for patents is hotter than it has ever been, particularly in technology fields for smartphones and Internet searching. On June 26, 2012, PLI is hosting a one hour briefing discussing the recent multi-billion dollar patent portfolio transactions and how the size of these transactions requires them to be presented to and cleared by regulators in the U.S. and abroad to make sure competition won’t be harmed.

In addition, many of the affected patents have been asserted in litigation already, and others are bound to be soon.  That will bring further antitrust scrutiny, in all likelihood including counterclaims that the new owners’ assertion of the patents violates the antitrust laws.

The one hour briefing is entitled, “Buying Patents by the Pound: Today’s Patent-Acquisition Boom and Tomorrow’s Antitrust Consequences,” and features Charles S. Crompton, of Latham & Watkins LLP, and Ronald S. Laurie, Managing Director & Principal, Inflexion Point Strategy, LLC.

The panelists will discuss the forces driving the current strategic patent acquisition market, market developments that can be expected, how a potential market participant can prepare for antitrust scrutiny, and the possible approaches taken by the courts and regulators.

Register for “Buying Patents by the Pound: Today’s Patent-Acquisition Boom and Tomorrow’s Antitrust Consequences,” today!