Long Island Technology Briefs: January 11, 2008

Long Island Business News, Jan 11, 2008 by Alison Snyder

Motorola reaches settlement on the patent dispute

Corporate giant Motorola has reached an agreement resolving all existing patent infringement disputes between Metrologic Instruments and Holtsville-based Symbol Technologies, which Motorola acquired in Jan. 2007.

Blackwood, N.J.-based Metrologic makes imaging systems and point- of-sale barcode scanners - a core business for the former Symbol, which is now a part of Motorola's Enterprise Mobility Solutions division.

Symbol and Metrologic had been embroiled in a number of patent disputes since 2002 concerning barcode scanning and mobile computing technology. In 1996, the two companies entered into a cross- licensing agreement in which both companies licensed technology related to barcode scanning products.

Though the specific terms of the settlement were not disclosed, the companies said they had again entered into a patent cross- license for the technology, to last for a "limited" time period. The agreement ends all pending litigation.

Symbol sued Metrologic for breaching a license agreement when the company stopped making royalty payments in the fourth quarter of 2001. Metrologic said it had modified its products and therefore was no longer subject to royalties.

The ensuing patent disputes have been costly. In March 2006, a judge ordered Metrologic to pay Symbol $14.8 million in past-due royalties and interest.

In a separate dispute, a federal judge ruled in May 2006 that Symbol owed Metrologic $2.6 million in back royalties. Metrologic claimed Symbol stopped paying royalties associated with the cross- licensing agreement in 2004.

Audiovox wraps up RCA deal

Hauppauge-based Audiovox Corp. has acquired French electronics maker Thomson S.A.'s non-European consumer electronics audio-video business and the rights to its RCA electronics brand for $19.7 million.

The deal, completed Dec. 31, includes a one-time payment and a five-year fee associated with RCA brand rights to begin in 2010. The deal encompasses Thomson's business in the United States, Canada and China.

Thomson's audio-video business includes sales of DVD players and recorders, GPS devices, HD and Internet radios, MP3 players, digital cameras and camcorders. Altogether, Audiovox said it will gain about $400 million in sales, $150 million of that coming from sales of RCA- branded electronics.

The company said it was also entering into a license agreement with Chinese manufacturer Multimedia Device to market the non-RCA products. In addition, Audiovox plans to open an operation in Mexico, using a former Thomson facility.

LI schools kick off annual robotics competition

School Business Partnerships of Long Island and local high school students Jan. 5 kicked off a robotics competition at Stony Brook University.

A total of 39 Long Island teams are competing in this year's event, known as the Long Island Regional FIRST Robotics Competition.

The competition pairs high school students with professional mentors, challenging them to design and build a robot. Each team is given a parts kit and six weeks to construct a 130-pound robot to prepare for a competition that will take place March 27-29 at Hofstra University. The competition will measure each robot's effectiveness and the student's powers of collaboration and determination.

FIRST is a non-profit organization aimed to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in youth.

Arrow on Forbes 400 list

Arrow Electronics was named as one of the Forbes 400 Best Big Companies in America for 2007.

The Melville-based company trumpeted the accolade, which evaluates companies with revenues of more than $1 billion by sales, earnings growth and return to shareholders.

Forbes said Arrow's three-year earnings growth rate of 117 percent merited a return to the list, where Arrow last appeared in 1999.

Arrow has undergone a significant expansion in Asia over the past two years, and Forbes said it has also expanded its core markets in the United States and Europe.

In with the new at Research Frontiers

Woodbury-based Research Frontiers, which makes window-tinting technology, had a changing of the guard as 2007 ended and 2008 was ushered in.

The company announced Dec. 31 that Albert Malvino, a more than five-year member of its board of directors, would resign, citing health issues.

Malvino, 76, will remain on the company's advisory board. He is the lead inventor on 71 patents and patent applications held by Research Frontiers.

And on Jan. 2, the company announced it had promoted Steven Slovak to vice president of technology, a newly created position in the company.