Unwired Planet Implements New Executive Management Structure; Adds Two New Board Directors with Intellectual Property Expertise
Unwired Planet, (Nasdaq: UPIP), today announced a streamlined management
structure that includes: a president role to be filled by Eric Vetter,
and the creation of an executive committee, which will be chaired by a
new board member to be named later. With this new structure in place,
the chief executive officer position will be eliminated.
Eric Vetter, chief financial officer of Unwired Planet, will be promoted
to president and will also continue in his capacity as chief
administrative officer and chief financial officer. As previously
announced, Mike Mulica, former chief executive officer of Unwired
Planet, will continue to serve on the Unwired Planet Board and will
chair the newly formed Unwired Planet Technology Advisory Committee. The
company intends to name a new board member who will serve as chairman of
the executive committee in the near future.
Simultaneously, the company today announced that Bill Marino and Philip
Vachon were appointed to the company’s board of directors. Mr. Marino is
currently the CEO of Pragmatus, LLC, a privately held intellectual
property licensing company. Mr. Vachon is co-founder and director of
IPMG AG, a privately held global intellectual property licensing firm.
“Over the past six months, Eric has demonstrated solid leadership skills
and we believe our senior executive team, including Eric Vetter, Tim
Robbins, and Daniel Mendez, is highly capable of delivering strong
results for shareholders. We believe this new executive management
structure will provide the necessary oversight and guidance for
management while allowing the company to continually improve its
efficiency and cost structure,” said Peter Feld, Chairman of the Board.
“With the addition of Bill and Philip we have significantly enhanced the
board’s level of experience in intellectual property licensing,
litigation, and operations. We are confident in our strategic plan and
the team we have put together to execute on the significant opportunity
in front of us.”
William (Bill) Marino is the CEO of Pragmatus, LLC, where he is
responsible for the portfolio acquisition and overall strategy of the
company. Prior to Pragmatus, he was the CEO of Saxon Innovations, LLC
and was the chief architect of the ITC strategy. While at Saxon, he also
served as partner and General Counsel for Altitude Capital Partners, a
private investment fund focused on investing in intellectual property.
Prior to that, Mr. Marino was in private practice with two large firms,
where he specialized in patent litigation. Mr. Marino has licensed over
$300 million dollars in the last 8 years. He holds an undergraduate
degree in Biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts and a Juris
Doctor from Suffolk University. He is registered to practice at the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office.
Philip A. Vachon is co-founder and director of IPMG AG, a privately held
global intellectual property licensing firm, where he focuses his
efforts on corporate structure, capitalization and profitable revenue
growth. Prior to the formation of IPMG, Mr. Vachon advised one of the
world’s largest patent holders on licensing to the telecommunications
industry. Previously, he was President of Liberate Technologies during
its successful IPO which raised over $500 million in financing. Prior,
Mr. Vachon spent nine years at Oracle Corporation in various assignments
with his last as Senior Vice President of Sales, Telecommunications
Industry. Mr. Vachon has served on several technology company boards,
with his last assignment as an independent director of IBC (NYSE:IBC).
About Unwired Planet
Unwired Planet, Inc. (NASDAQ: UPIP) is the inventor of the Mobile
Internet and a premier intellectual property company focused exclusively
on the mobile industry. The company’s patent portfolio of more than
2,400 issued US and foreign patents include the technologies that allow
mobile devices to connect to the Internet and enable mobile
communications. The portfolio spans 2G, 3G and 4G technologies, as well
as cloud-based mobile applications and services. Unwired Planet's
portfolio includes patents related to key mobile technologies, including
baseband mobile communications, mobile browsers, mobile advertising,
push technology, maps and location based services, mobile application
stores, social networking, mobile gaming and mobile search. Unwired
Planet is headquartered in Reno, Nevada.
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