Wi-LAN Inc. (TSE:WIN), a Canadian owner of patents for technology used in mobile phones, fluctuated between gains and losses after signing a patent license deal with Nokia Networks.
The company's TSX-listed shares gained 0.3 percent to C$3.38 at 9:46 a.m. in Toronto, while the company's Nasdaq-listed shares fell as much as 1.2 percent to $3.16.
Wi-LAN and Nokia Networks signed a patent license deal by which Nokia Networks receives a multi-year license to a broad portfolio of wireless patents used in a range of wireless infrastructure products offered by Nokia Networks, Ottawa, Ontario-based Wi-LAN said in a statement today.
Wi-LAN said it first signed a patent license agreement with Nokia Corp. (NYSE:NOK) in December 2006 related to Wi-LAN's then current patent portfolio. The patents licensed under this new agreement with Nokia Networks include patents related to CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, HSPA and 4G/LTE technologies.
Under a separate patent acquisition agreement between the companies also announced today, Wi-LAN will acquire from Nokia Networks a portfolio of patents with worldwide coverage related to various current and future wireless handset and infrastructure technologies.
"We are very pleased to have negotiated this license with Nokia Networks," Wi-LAN Chief Executive Officer Jim Skippen said in the statement. "It underscores the value of the technologies that we have added to our portfolio of wireless patents."
Skippen added, "Nokia has been at the forefront of the development and commercialization of wireless communication technology for decades. The acquired patents will add significant value to our wireless portfolio and we believe will aid in the signing of future licenses."