Unwired Planet, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPIP) today announced that it has entered
into a strategic fee arrangement with McKool Smith, one of the
preeminent patent litigation firms in the world.
Under the new fee structure, Unwired Planet secures a lower, fixed
monthly spending rate on litigation fees on the company’s outstanding
cases. Instead of the traditional model of paying for billable hours in
a given month, the agreement fixes legal fees for 24 months at $500
thousand per month, unless a case is settled earlier. If litigation
activity continues beyond 24 months, McKool Smith will continue to
provide all necessary services without receipt of any new fees. In
exchange, McKool Smith will receive a sliding contingency fee based upon
net Unwired Planet licensing fees received from the respondents in the
current outstanding litigations: Google, Apple and Blackberry. In
addition, the agreement allows Unwired Planet to file additional
enforcement actions at discounted rates, if necessary, against the same
three parties. As is customary, Unwired Planet remains responsible for
paying expenses such as travel, court costs and expert witness fees as
they are incurred.
“We are pleased to formalize this long-term partnership with McKool
Smith that demonstrates our mutual confidence in the value of our
portfolio,” said Eric Vetter, president and chief administrative officer
of Unwired Planet. “We have secured committed representation from some
of the most accomplished and senior members of the firm. Additionally,
this agreement enables us to predict and reduce our litigation expenses
by approximately 50% without compromising our enforcement efforts.”
Phil Vachon, chairman of Unwired Planet’s board of directors stated,
“Our strong preference is to license our intellectual property in a
negotiated transaction because it is the most efficient outcome for all
parties; in those situations where we are unable to conclude discussions
in a timely manner, however, we will enforce our rights through the
courts in the most cost efficient manner as possible.”
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, includes 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.
Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the
safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact
contained in this release are forward-looking statements. In some cases,
you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as
"may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes,"
"estimates," "predicts," "potential" or "continue" or the negative of
these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only
current predictions and are subject to known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's actual
results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be
materially different from those anticipated by the forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of
risks, including, but not limited to, those risk factors discussed in
filings with the SEC, including but not limited to, the Company's
current Annual Report on Form 10-K and current Quarterly Report on Form
10-Q and any amendments thereto. The Company undertakes no duty to
update or revise any of the forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of
this release.
Copyright Business Wire 2013