Score one for wireless broadband company Proxim Inc. as it continues its
mission to bring companies — selling 802.11b wireless networking products
that it says closely resemble its own work — to the table.
Compex, which is one company among dozens of companies threatened with legal
action by Proxim, has agreed to pay royalties to the 18-year-old company to
sell products that Proxim said infringed on its direct sequence wireless
local area networking (WLAN) patents.
The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Proxim, which has patented implementation
techniques used in wireless products that comply with the IEEE 802.11b
standard, has asked the International Trade Commission (ITC) to drop
Anaheim, Calif.-based Compex Inc. and its parent company Powermatic from an
ongoing action it has taken against 13 other companies.
A spokesperson for Proxim said that all companies that export 802.11b
wireless products — about 100 — run the risk of infringing on Proxim’s
patents. She was unable to say how many companies had been notified, but
said the reasons for notification were clear.
“Any company that uses a technique that infringes on Proxim’s patents,
including optimum range, data rate and bandwidth occupancy patents would be
notified,” she said.
In a prepared statement, Kevin Negus, vice president of business development
at Proxim, said “We hope that other companies follow Compex’s lead and sign
up for our early licensee program.
This will allow these companies to avoid litigation and continue selling
802.11b direct sequence WLAN products or services, while providing Proxim
with fair compensation.”
As a reward for signing up with Proxim, Compex will receive “attractive
licensing terms and avoid the expense associated with litigation.” Those
terms were not released today and Compex could not be reached for comment by
press time.
In early March 2001, Proxim initiated an action with the ITC to stop the
importation of products that infringed on its wireless networking
technology. The eight companies identified in the action included Acer,
Addtron, Ambicom, Compex, D-Link, Enterasys, Linksys and Melco.
At the time, Proxim announced a licensing program and filed complaints in
the federal district courts in Boston and Delaware for damages and
injunctive relief. The companies named in the action are 3COM, Cisco,
Intersil, SMC Networks, Symbol and Wayport.
On May 7, InternetNews.com
reported that Proxim introduced a new suite of 802.11a products under a
Harmony label. That initiative is an indication that the company has
stepped-up its efforts to support and protect its wireless products outside
of the HomeRF arena and to mine B2B companies looking for higher bandwidth,
wireless support.
At the time Lynn Krust, director of commercial networks business unit for
Proxim, explained “Most places in the world use a mix of networking —
usually a company uses a mix of two or three wireless standards. We’re a
multi-standards company. We’re not just focused on HomeRF.”
In early afternoon going, Proxim shares were trading
at $17.77, up 52 cents from yesterday’s close at $17.25.
