tim's journal

Wi-LAN OFDM patents

ZDNet reported last week on Wi-LAN setting its sights on Cisco. Based in Calgary, Alberta, Wi-LAN owns several patents on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and is now filing lawsuits against 802.11a and 802.11g chipmakers. The claim is that OFDM forms the basis of these protocols. Here's the quote of the week, from Ken Wetherell, vice president of corporate communications for Wi-LAN:

"Without our OFDM patents, there would be no 802.11a/g. We didn't enforce these patents sooner, because we didn't want to slow down development in the market. But now that the technologies are firmly established, we feel we must protect our intellectual property. (emphasis mine)"

Oooo, so generous huh? Philips and Fujitsu are license holders.

Posted by torque at June 27, 2004 12:59 AM | TrackBack