Network-1 and D-Link Settle Patent Dispute

Network-1 announces it had agreed to a settlement of its patent infringement litigation against D-Link Corporation and D-Link Systems in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division for infringement of the Network-1's Remote Power Patent (U.S. Patent No. 6,218,930).

Under the terms of the settlement, D-Link has agreed to enter into a license agreement for the Remote Power Patent the terms of which include monthly royalty payments of 3.25% of the net sales of D-Link branded Power over Ethernet products, including those products which comply with the IEEE 802.3af and 802.3at Standards, for the full term of the Remote Power Patent, which expires in March 2020. The royalty rate is subject to adjustment beginning after the first quarter of 2008 to a rate consistent with other similarly situated licensees of the Remote Power Patent based on units of shipments of licensed products. In addition, D-Link has agreed to pay Network-1 $100,000.

The products covered by the settlement include Power over Ethernet enabled switches, wireless access points, network security cameras and VoIP telephones, among others. The terms of the License Agreement are subject to a definitive agreement between the parties, which will be accompanied by a dismissal with prejudice of all claims and counterclaims in the litigation currently pending in the Eastern District of Texas.

"We are extremely pleased at the outcome of this litigation and at the prospect of having D-Link as a licensee of our Remote Power Patent," commented Corey M. Horowitz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Network-1. "This outcome is consistent with Network-1's goal of making licenses available to the technologies covered by the Remote Power Patent to the Power over Ethernet industry in order to promote the widespread adoption of this important Standard."

The Remote Power Patent relates to, among other things, the delivery of power over Ethernet cables in order to remotely power network connected devices including, among others, wireless switches, wireless access points, RFID card readers, VoIP telephones and network cameras. In June 2003, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers approved the 802.3af Power over Ethernet standard which has led to the rapid adoption of PoE. The IEEE is currently working on the 802.3at Power over Ethernet Plus Standard which will increase the maximum power delivered to devices to 60 watts from the current 13 watts under 802.3af.

Posted on Apr 30, 2007  Reviews | Share |  Digg
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