Motorola joins Via Licensing joint licensing program for near field communications
NFC technology provides short-range, standards-based wireless connectivity.
-- EDN, July 1, 2009
Via Licensing Corp has announced that Motorola Inc has joined its joint licensing program for patents related to the practice of near field communications (NFC) as a licensor. NFC technology provides short-range, standards-based wireless connectivity that can help people access digital content, connect electronic devices, and conduct secure, contactless transactions.
The joint licensing program for NFC is designed to provide access to patents through a single license agreement. Among the applications covered by this program are NFC-compliant mobile phones, consumer electronic devices, and commercial systems such as payment processing terminals, transportation terminals, and vending machines.
“Motorola has a broad licensing program encompassing multiple technologies, some of which are commercially appropriate for joint licensing programs,” said Brian Blasius, director of outbound licensing, Motorola Mobile Devices. “We are committed to facilitating the development and implementation of the NFC market by making our patents essential to the practice of NFC accessible to the industry through a single, convenient source.”
“We are thrilled to have Motorola participate in the joint licensing program for NFC,” said Hélène Jay, director of business development, Europe at Via Licensing. “By working with industry leaders such as Motorola, France Telecom, Inside Contactless, and NXP, Via Licensing hopes to enhance the value of a combined patent license to those companies creating products based on this technology.”
A range of related technical specifications published by ISO, ETSI, and the NFC Forum are covered by the NFC patent pool agreement and are available at www.vialicensing.com/patent/NFC_index.cfm.
The list of technical specifications covered by the NFC joint patent pool is updated from time to time as additional specifications are adopted by standards organizations. Any entity owning patents that may be deemed essential to NFC is invited to submit its patent for evaluation by an independent expert with a view toward contributing its essential patents to the pool license.
Noncompliant NFC-related technologies, such as smart cards, are not covered by the NFC pool license.
