SOURCE: Burst.com, Inc.
November 21, 2007 17:00 ET
Burst.com & Apple Sign Agreement in Principle to Settle Case
SANTA ROSA, CA--(Marketwire - November 21, 2007) - Burst.com, Inc. (OTC: BRST), today announced
today that it has signed an agreement in principle to settle its case
against Apple, Inc. ending almost 2 years of litigation. Apple agreed to
pay Burst a one-time payment of $10 million cash in exchange for a
non-exclusive license to Burst's patent portfolio, not including one issued
U.S. patent and 3 pending U.S. patent applications related to new DVR
technology. Burst agreed not to sue Apple for any future infringement of
the DVR patent and any patents that might issue from the pending
DVR-related applications.
The $10 million patent license provides Apple with the right to use Burst's
intellectual property in its own technology and products, without further
consideration. Burst, however, retains the right to enforce its patent
portfolio against others.
Burst plans to continue identifying and evaluating companies who represent
licensing opportunities and intends to diligently pursue those likely to
yield suitable returns. Burst does not plan to announce specific names of
suspected infringing products or companies in advance of negotiating with
them or filing litigation to enforce its patent rights. Burst does not plan
to publicly release any internal assessments of market segment size or
dollar value of those markets, although it believes that they are
significant enough to warrant the aggressive pursuit of patent licensing.
Court costs, expenses and attorney's fees in connection with the settlement
of the litigation with Apple will reduce proceeds to the Company to
approximately $4.6 million. According to the agreement, payment to Burst is
to be made promptly after signing of a definitive settlement agreement.
Burst's Board of Directors has indicated that it will be considering a cash
distribution to Burst's shareholders from the Apple license fee, in an
amount to be determined.
The company will not be further publicly addressing issues or answering
questions regarding subjects that the Company's Board of Directors has not
yet adequately addressed or resolved, or regarding subject matter that the
company's legal counsel has advised is either privileged in nature, or
should not be discussed for strategic or other reasons. As the Board and
management make further determinations regarding the matters discussed in
this Release and other matters involving the Company's future operations,
the Company may, at its discretion, make further announcements to all
shareholders and will also post those announcements on the Company's web
site.
This Press Release may contain forward-looking statements similar to those
covered by the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We believe that the expectations expressed
herein, regarding the new license of our technology with Apple, our use of
the funds from this license, our intent to review possible further
enforcement of our patents against other companies and our intent to
develop and sustain new operations are based on reasonable assumptions.
However, these forward-looking statements are subject to numerous
uncertainties and risks and actual results and developments could differ
materially from these expectations. Factors which could affect our
operations and prospects include the costs and uncertainties of pursuing
complicated litigation, the effect our license with Microsoft and Apple
will have on other companies utilizing our technology and in our market and
our ability to pursue new or additional operating strategies. We are not
responsible for updating any such forward-looking statements.
About Burst
Founded in 1988, burst.com has pioneered
the development of
Faster-Than-Real-Time™ video and audio delivery. burst.com has built an
international patent portfolio covering burst-mode video delivery,
scheduling, rapid casting and network optimization, as well as DVR-related
technology.