3COM Corporation Aims to Speed "V.PCM" 56 Kbps Draft Standard by Openly Licensing Intellectual Property; 3Com Continues Standards Leadership; Works with Brent Townshend to Make his Inventions Available to All.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 3, 1997--To speed delivery of a draft standard for the new category of 56 Kbps modems, 3Com Corporation (Nasdaq:COMS) has announced that it will continue its support of the standards process by outlining its policy for licensing standards-related patents at low cost to other parties who do the same.

The company has elected to license all patents covering its own inventions relating to the anticipated 56 Kbps modem standard at a low, one-time $100,000 fee, or alternatively, with a running royalty capped at $150,000 per manufacturer.

3Com is the first participant in the 56 Kbps standards process to disclose the terms for licensing its intellectual property. By openly licensing its patented technology, 3Com expects to continue the rapid progress that has already been made on the forthcoming 56 Kbps standard. 3Com expects its agreeable licensing terms will facilitate this month's upcoming ITU standards meeting, and hopes that other companies will step forward and disclose reasonable licensing terms to prevent any delays in finalizing a standard.

3Com also announced it is working with Brent Townshend, the independent inventor who conceived the original idea for how these new 56 Kbps modems operate, to make his intellectual property available to all manufacturers. 3Com believes Townshend's inventions, which are the subject of pending patent applications, are basic to any 56 Kbps modem protocol that might be adopted.

Townshend's Innovations Create New Era of Communications

Townshend's inventions relating to 56 Kbps modems are the most fundamental of many items of intellectual property that will be embodied in the final standard. 3Com engineers also have contributed numerous inventions relating to the successful implementation of 56 Kbps technology in the company's U.S. Robotics x2 products.

"Townshend basically came up with the fundamental idea that generated the new category of 56 Kbps modems," said Joe Dunsmore, vice president of new business initiatives. "His work was groundbreaking, and allowed us to build on his technology to create a fundamentally different approach from the way modem communications had been handled before."

Today, 3Com holds an exclusive license to Townshend's technology, including his 56K patents when and if they issue, but 3Com has no right to sublicense others without Townshend's consent. Townshend has agreed, however, to allow 3Com to openly sublicense any relevant patents issued to him upon specified terms that will be made available to all industry participants. The disclosure of these terms should open the way toward rapid adoption of a 56K standard.

"We believe a draft standard in September is best for everyone, and we've actively been working toward that goal," said Dunsmore. "However, if a standard is not finalized at this meeting, we will be working with other ITU members to keep standards activities moving between September and January when the next official ITU meeting is held. Even if a draft standard is not established in September, we believe standards work will continue at a rapid pace and will not delay the overall progress of the industry."

The TIA (Telecommunications Industry Association) meeting scheduled for October would be a likely forum for continued standards work. Standardization of 56 Kbps technology has moved very rapidly -- typically, it takes two or three years to establish new data communications standards.

The 56 Kbps standards process started about a year ago, in September 1996, when 3Com (then U.S. Robotics) submitted the first paper to the ITU relating to a 56 Kbps standard. 3Com also has guaranteed that it will provide its x2 customers a free upgrade to the forthcoming ITU standard, so customers can take advantage of higher speeds now and upgrade to the standard in the future.

3Com has been working on developing implementations of 56 Kbps modem technology since 1996, after Townshend initially approached the company in 1995 with his idea for the next generation of modem communications. Townshend is neither a member of the worldwide standards body, the ITU (International Telecommunications Union), nor is he affiliated with any manufacturer of data communications equipment.

The key terms and conditions proposed for licensing 3Com's intellectual property, as well as Townshend's, are available to all interested parties upon written request directed to: 3Com Corporation, Intellectual Property Group, Legal Department, 8100 N. McCormick Blvd., Skokie, IL 60076.

3Com Corporation enables individuals and organizations worldwide to communicate and share information and resources at anytime from anywhere. As one of the world's preeminent suppliers of data, voice and video communications technology, 3Com has delivered networking solutions to more than 100 million customers worldwide.

With global reach and local touch, the company provides enterprises, network service providers and carriers, small businesses and consumers with comprehensive, innovative information access products and system solutions for building intelligent, reliable and high performance local and wide area networks.

3Com has worldwide revenues of more than $5.6 billion and employs approximately 13,000 people in 45 countries. For further information, visit 3Com's World Wide Web site at http://www.3com.com

CONTACT: 3Com Corporation Public Relations 

Sara Powers, 847/583-2643

Lauri Lentz, 847/982-5230