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[Loewe2004]

Today’s San Diego Union Tribune
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20050615-9999-1b…

The Semiconductor Reporter

Document says Intel signed a license agreement for `Fish Clock` technology; if true, Patriot will now share Intel royalty revenues


By Jeremy Young
The Semiconductor Reporter

NEW YORK -- When Patriot Scientific Corp., San Diego, and The TPL Group, Cupertino, Calif., announced today that they had reached an accord over the licensing of a group of patents said to be fundamental to microprocessor designs, the two companies ladled out praise to inventor Charles H. Moore, who is the chief technology officer of TPL (see today`s story). No mention was made of Russell H. Fish III.
However, one of the key patents named today as a part of the portfolio that will now be administered by TPL is U.S. Patent No. 5,809,336, which has been the subject of litigation between Patriot and TPL (now presumably settled). The patent covers a ring oscillator clock, and while it is listed in the patent documentation as a co-invention of Moore and Fish, Patriot had been claiming that Fish was the sole inventor, and that it, Patriot, was the sole owner of the patent following the transfer of ownership rights through several parties and a failed attempt by Fish to regain ownership in the courts.
Documents on Patriot`s web site cite what the company says is strong evidence that Moore considered the invention to to have originated entirely with Fish. In testimony, Fish referred to the invention as the ``Fish Clock.``
It is the `336 patent that Patriot has been notifiying hundreds of companies that they must license, and it is the `336 patent that the company is asserting in an infringement lawsuit naming Matsushita, Fujitsu, NEC, Sony, and Toshiba and seeking several hundred million dollars in damages (see Dec. 26, 2003 story).
Shortly thereafter, Intel Corp. filed a motion in a California court seeking a declaration that it is not infringing Patriot`s microprocessor clocking patent, and that the patent is invalid (see Feb. 6, 2004 story). Patriot turned around and sued Intel for infringement of the `336 patent (see Feb. 11, 2004 story).
Also in February 2004, Patriot filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against Moore, TPL, and Daniel E. Leckrone, according to documents filed by Patriot with the SEC. Patriot requested the court to declare inventorship and ownership on its granted patents.
In order to succeed in its suit against Intel and the Japanese companies, Patriot needed to establish sole ownership of the `336 patent. It appears that Moore and TPL must have been claiming an ownership position in the patent, leading to the need for Patriot to file suit against Moore and TPL.
The Intel lawsuit was stayed pending the results of the Moore lawsuit, according to Patriot`s SEC filings.
Another document on Patriot`s web site says that the company had learned of a license agreement signed on June 28, 2004 by Moore and TPL licensing Intel Corp. to use the technology covered in the `336 patent. At the time, Patriot was still in contention with Moore and TPL over ownership rights to the patent; Intel presumably did the deal with TPL in an attempt to do an end run around Patriot`s claim, and was hoping that Patriot would fail to establish its sole ownership of the patent in court. Patriot asserted that Intel must believe the `336 patent to be valid, since it signed a license agreement to use the `336 technology.
TPL is a privately held company, and a TPL spokesman contacted today refused to confirm whether or not Intel has a license to any of the patents discussed in today`s announcement (including the `336 patent). TPL, he said, has confidentiality agreements with its licensees, and is not at liberty to disclose who they are. But he did not deny that Intel has a license to the patent, and he did confirm that the agreement announced today between TPL and Patriot does not invalidate any of the license agreements signed by either company in the past.
Patriot announced earlier this year that it had licensed Advanced Micro Devices Inc. for its entire microprocessor patent portfolio (see Feb. 22 story). The license deal resulted in Patriot`s first ever quarterly profit.
The TPL spokesman said that the company`s licensing strategy for the group of patents was to sign microprocessor manufacturers to license deals, as opposed to system manufacturers that use those microprocessors. As the world`s largest manufacturer of microprocessors, Intel is presumably the largest target company for such a license -- but if the information on Patriot`s web site is correct, that license has already been signed.
Therefore, the accord between TPL and Patriot announced today presumably gets Patriot in on some percentage of the licensing and royalty revenues of any deals already signed by TPL. What fraction of those revenues will go to Patriot was not disclosed.
A spokesman for Patriot contacted today would not comment on whether Intel had signed a license for any of the patents referred to in today`s announcement. However, if TPL did sign such a deal and it is still in force, one outcome of the agreement announced today would presumably be that Patriot would drop its suit against Intel.
Absent any willingness to talk about it on the part of Patriot or TPL, Patriot`s future quarterly reports may be the only evidence as to whether Intel is paying significant sums for rights to the ``Fish clock`` described in the `336 patent and other technology covered by patents in the portfolio now to be managed by TPL.
Today`s announcement did not provide information on the status of Patriot`s suit against the five Japanese companies.

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