EXHIBIT 99.1
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NETWORK-1
ANNOUNCES SETTLEMENT OF PATENT LITIGATION WITH
NETGEAR
NETGEAR
Agrees to License Network-1’s Remote Power Patent for Its Power over Ethernet
Products through 2020
New York, New York-May 28, 2009-- Network-1 Security Solutions, Inc. (OTC BB: NSSI) announced today that it agreed to settle its patent litigation
against NETGEAR,
Inc. (OTC: NTGR) pending in the United States District Court for the
Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, for infringement of Network-1’s
Remote Power Patent (U.S. Patent No. 6,218,930).
As part
of the settlement, NETGEAR, a worldwide provider of technologically innovative,
branded networking solutions, entered into a settlement agreement and
non-exclusive license for the Remote Power Patent. Under the terms of
the license, NETGEAR will license the Remote Power Patent for its full term
which expires in March 2020, and pay quarterly royalties (beginning as of April
1, 2009) based on its sales of Power over Ethernet (“PoE”) products, including
those PoE products which comply with the Institute of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers (“IEEE”) 802.3af and 802.3at Standards.
Licensed
products include NETGEAR’s PoE enabled switches and wireless access
points. The royalty rates included in the license are 1.7% of the
sales price of Power Sourcing Equipment, which includes Ethernet switches, and
2% of the sales price of Powered Devices, which includes wireless access
points. The royalty rates are subject to adjustment, under
certain circumstances, if Network-1 grants a license to other licensees with
lower royalty rates and NETGEAR is able to and agrees to assume all material
terms and conditions of the other license. In addition, NETGEAR agreed to an
upfront initial payment to Network-1 of $350,000.
As part
of the settlement agreement, all claims and counterclaims involving NETGEAR in
the litigation currently pending in the Eastern District of Texas will be
dismissed with prejudice.
“We are
very pleased that NETGEAR agreed to take advantage of the terms of our Special
Licensing Program and become a licensee of our Remote Power Patent,” commented
Corey M. Horowitz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
Network-1. “This outcome is consistent with Network-1’s goal of
making licenses available to the technologies covered by the Remote Power Patent
to the Power over Ethernet industry in a manner that promotes the widespread
adoption of this important industry standard.”
Announced
in August 2008, the Special Licensing Program terms were made available to the
defendants in the Texas litigation, which is still currently pending, against
Cisco Systems, Inc., Cisco-Linksys, LLC, Enterasys Networks, Inc., 3Com
Corporation, Inc., Extreme Networks, Inc., Foundry Networks, Inc. and Adtran,
Inc. In addition to NETGEAR, other companies that signed
licenses under the Special Licensing Program are Microsemi Corporation, Buffalo
Technology, BRG Resources, and SEH Corporation.
The
Remote Power Patent relates to, among other things, delivering power over
Ethernet cables to remotely power network connected devices including, among
others, wireless switches, wireless access points, RFID card readers, VoIP
telephones and network cameras. In June 2003, the IEEE approved the
802.3af PoE Standard which led to the rapid adoption of PoE. The IEEE
is currently working on the 802.3at Power over Ethernet Plus (PoE Plus) Standard
which will increase the maximum power delivered to network devices to 40-60
watts from the current 15 watts under the 802.3af Standard.
ABOUT
NETWORK-1 SECURITY SOLUTIONS, INC.
Network-1
Security Solutions, Inc. is engaged in the acquisition, development, licensing
and protection of its intellectual property and proprietary technologies. It
currently owns six patents covering various telecommunications and data
networking technologies and is currently focusing its licensing efforts on its
Remote Power Patent (U.S. Patent No. 6,218,930) covering the remote delivery of
power over Ethernet networks. The Remote Power Patent was granted by
the U.S. Office of Patents and Trademarks on April 17, 2001 and expires on March
7, 2020.
This
release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe
harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
These statements address future events and conditions concerning the Company's
business plans. Such statements are subject to a number of risk factors and
uncertainties as disclosed in the Company's Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31 , 2008
including, among others, the ability of Network-1 to obtain license agreements
from third parties for its patent portfolio, uncertainty of patent litigation,
the Company's ability to achieve revenues and profits from its patent portfolio,
the Company's ability to raise capital when needed, future economic conditions
and technology changes and legislative, regulatory and competitive developments.
Except as otherwise required to be disclosed in periodic reports, the Company
expressly disclaims any future obligation or undertaking to update or revise any
forward-looking statement contained herein.
Contacts:
Network-1
Security Solutions, Inc.
Corey
M. Horowitz, 212-829-5770