Sisvel to Facilitate Formation of 802.11n Patent Pool

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 21, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Sisvel announced today that it is facilitating the formation of a new joint licensing program, or patent pool, for Wi-Fi 802.11n devices and is issuing a call for patents essential to the IEEE 802.11 Standard.  This announcement follows Sisvel's selection by a group of leading 802.11 patent owners.

All parties holding a patent believed to be essential for 802.11 standard specifications, as defined by IEEE Std. 802.11-2007 and IEEE Std. 802.11n-2009, are invited to apply for a review of essentiality by independent evaluators designated by Sisvel.  As ratified by the IEEE, document IEEE Std. 802.11-2007 represents the base version of the standard that merged and includes the following eight prior amendments: 802.11a, b, d, e, g, h, i, j.  Document IEEE Std. 802.11n-2009 is a further amendment to the 2007 standard document to add enhancements for higher throughput.

Those parties confirmed to hold at least one essential patent or patent application will be invited to participate in the formation of the joint licensing program (subject to certain terms and conditions).  The formation process will begin with a meeting in mid January 2011.

To complete patent evaluations in time for this first meeting, applications for patent and application evaluations are requested to be filed as soon as possible.  Detailed information on patent submission, as well as other procedures for participating in the facilitation process, can be obtained from Sisvel by sending an email to the following address: [email protected].

"Wireless connectivity is a vital function today and 802.11n technology is becoming more and more ubiquitous in electronic devices.  Forming a pool for essential patents will benefit IP owners, manufacturers, and consumers of Wi-Fi technology," explained Gen. Richard Neal, President of Sisvel US, adding that, "We invite all patent owners that own or control patents believed to be essential to 802.11 to participate in this process."

About IEEE 802.11

IEEE 802.11 is a family of specifications for wireless local area network (WLAN) communications in the bands from 2.4, up to 5 GHz.  The 802.11 standard is a set of evolving specifications.  In 1997 the IEEE published the document IEEE Std. 802.11-1997, as the first wireless LAN standard.  In the following years many enhancement versions of 802.11 were approved to cope with the WLAN fast growing market.  In 2007, the IEEE 802.11 Task Group created the IEEE 802.11-2007, a single specification that merged 8 amendments (802.11a, b, d, e, g, h, i, j) with the legacy standard.  IEEE 802.11n is a recent amendment which builds on the previous specifications by adding multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, together with many other enhancement features.  The IEEE has officially approved the amendment in October 2009 as IEEE Std. 802.11n-2009.

About Sisvel

Started in 1982 when Sisvel S.p.A. was founded in Italy, the Sisvel Group has become a world leader in managing intellectual property and maximizing the value of patent rights. The Sisvel Group is global in scope and reach, with companies in Italy (Sisvel in None Torinese and Edico in Rome), Luxembourg (Sisvel International), the United States (Sisvel US and Audio MPEG in Metropolitan Washington, DC), China (Sisvel Hong Kong), Japan (Sisvel Japan in Tokyo), and Germany (Sisvel Germany in Stuttgart), and with almost one hundred professionals worldwide with technical, legal, and licensing expertise.

Sisvel has a long history of managing successful patent portfolios including those related to the audio compression standards known as MP3 and MPEG Audio. In addition, Sisvel administers patent pools for the CDMA2000 family of cellular telecommunications standards, the UHF-RFID air interface standard, and the DVB-T and DVB-T2 broadcast standard, and is currently facilitating the creation of a LTE and DVB-C2 patent pool. Through its subsidiary Sisvel Technology, Sisvel is also engaged in the development of new technologies, including projects for 3D television and broadcasting.

SOURCE Sisvel