Network-1 Tech Agrees To Settle Its Patent Litigation Against Sony

(RTTNews) - Network-1 Technologies Inc. (NTIP) said that it agreed to settle its patent litigation against Sony Corporation and affiliated entities pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, for infringement of Network-1's Remote Power Patent. Sony was one of sixteen original defendants named in the litigation.

As part of the settlement, Sony entered into a Settlement Agreement and non-exclusive License Agreement for the Remote Power Patent. Under the terms of the license, Sony will receive a fully-paid license to the Remote Power Patent for its full term which expires in March 2020, which will apply to its sales of Power over Ethernet products, including those PoE products which comply with the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers ("IEEE") 802.3af and 802.3at Standards.

In September 2011, Network-1 initiated patent litigation against sixteen (16) data networking equipment manufacturers in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, for infringement of its Remote Power Patent. Network-1 previously reached settlement and license agreements with eight of the original defendants. The remaining seven defendants in the lawsuit are Alcatel-Lucent USA, Inc., Avaya Inc., AXIS Communications Inc., Dell, Inc., Hewlett-Packard Company, Juniper Networks, Inc., and Polycom Inc. Network-1 seeks monetary damages based upon reasonable royalties.