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OTTAWA, Ontario – December 20, 2007 - MOSAID Technologies Inc. (TSX:MSD) today announced that it has signed a seven year, royalty bearing patent portfolio license agreement with Winbond Electronics Corporation (Winbond) of Taiwan.
"This new agreement with Winbond is an important milestone in our semiconductor licensing program," said John Lindgren, President and Chief Executive Officer, MOSAID. "In 2003, Winbond was the first company to sign a fixed term, running royalty agreement with MOSAID, and today it has become the first company to sign a second term license with us. Going forward, I am very confident that MOSAID's other term licensees will also see the value in signing new licenses to MOSAID's growing patent portfolio at the end of their current term agreements."
Winbond's new agreement begins on January 1, 2008, following the December 31, 2007 expiration of its current five year agreement. The new agreement grants Winbond a license under MOSAID's patents for all commodity and embedded Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), as well as Pseudo Static RAM (PSRAM), products sold worldwide under Winbond's brand name. Financial details of the license are confidential.
"We are pleased that Winbond chose to take a new license with terms and conditions that are very similar to the current agreement," said Michael Vladescu, Vice President, Licensing and Intellectual Property, MOSAID. "The seven year term of this agreement reflects the evolving nature of our semiconductor memory patent portfolio, including its growing technical diversity and broader geographic coverage."
MOSAID has signed patent portfolio license agreements with 16 companies since January 1999, and is currently in communication with more than 50 companies with respect to licensing its semiconductor and wireless/wireline patents.
About MOSAID
MOSAID Technologies Inc. is one of the world's leading intellectual property companies. MOSAID develops semiconductor memory technology and licenses patented intellectual property in the areas of semiconductors, and wired and wireless communications systems. MOSAID counts many of the world's largest semiconductor companies among its customers. Founded in 1975, MOSAID is based in Ottawa, Ontario. For more information, visit www.mosaid.com.
Forward Looking Information
This document and certain other public documents incorporated by reference in this document, contain forward-looking statements to the extent they relate to MOSAID or its management, including those identified by the expressions "anticipate," "believe," "foresee," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "could," "may," "plan," "will," "would" and similar expressions. Similarly, statements in this document that describe MOSAID's business strategy, outlook, objectives, plans, intentions or goals also are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but rather reflect MOSAID's current expectations regarding future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Assumptions made in preparing forward-looking statements and financial guidance include, but are not limited to, the following: MOSAID's continued expansion of its patent portfolio and of its opportunities for future patent licensing revenue as a result of MOSAID's acquisition of patents from third parties and from development of new inventions; DRAM manufacturers continuing to infringe MOSAID's patents; the timing and amount of MOSAID's litigation expenses; MOSAID's ability to sign new patent licensees; current assumptions as to the identification of products that are unlicensed to MOSAID's wireless patents; and the timing and amount of MOSAID's Research & Development expenses.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results include, but are not limited to, the following: the extent of embedded DRAM proliferation in the System-on-a-Chip markets; legal rulings and/or regulatory investigations or complaints having an adverse impact on the validity, enforceability, potential royalty rates, and strength or breadth of coverage of MOSAID's essential and/or nonessential patents (including, but not limited to, adverse results from litigation or proceedings in patent offices and government regulatory agencies in various countries around the world); judicial, legislative or regulatory changes that impair the ability of patent holders to earn licensing revenues; economic, social, and political conditions in the countries in which MOSAID or patent licensees operate, including security risks, health conditions, possible disruptions in transportation networks and fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; non-payment or delays in payment by licensees; variability in patent licensees' sales of licensed products, failure to maintain and enforce MOSAID's existing patent portfolio, or failure to obtain valuable patents as a result of research and development activities, or failure to acquire valuable patents from third parties; MOSAID's ability to recruit and retain skilled personnel; change in MOSAID's financial position; consolidation of MOSAID's licensees; natural events, such as severe weather and earthquakes in the locations in which MOSAID or patent licensees operate; and changes in the tax rate applicable to MOSAID as the result of changes in the tax law in the jurisdictions in which profits are determined to be earned and taxed, the outcome of tax audits and the ability to realize deferred tax assets.
MOSAID assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties affecting MOSAID's business and other factors that could cause MOSAID's financial results to fluctuate are contained in MOSAID's Annual Information Form, under the section entitled "Risk Factors," and in MOSAID's other public filings available online at www.sedar.com.
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