IBM And 3Com Extend Relationship With Patent Cross-Licensing Agreement.ARMONK, N.Y. and SANTA CLARA Santa Clara, city, Cuba Santa Clara (sän`tä klä`rä), city (1994 est. pop. 217,000), capital of Villa Clara prov., central Cuba. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 2, 1999-- IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) and 3Com Corporation (Nasdaq:COMS COMS 3Com Corporation (stock symbol) COMS Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist COMS Continuous Opacity Monitoring Systems COMS City of Manchester Stadium (UK) ) today announced a patent cross-licensing agreement. The two companies will license their extensive patent portfolios on networking and communications technologies Noun 1. communications technology - the activity of designing and constructing and maintaining communication systems engineering, technology - the practical application of science to commerce or industry to enable each company's development teams to bring products to market faster. "The agreement with 3Com helps both companies expand research and development goals," said Dr. James T. Vanderslice, senior vice president and group executive, IBM Technology Group. "The technology advances of IBM's best and brightest researchers are worth a lot to our customers in the communications world, and this highlights our strategy to get IBM innovation into the marketplace as quickly as possible. We believe customers will welcome this agreement to work together for their benefit." "The joint efforts of the two technology leaders will result in new solutions for customers to access networked information in new and creative ways," said Bruce Claflin, president and Chief Operating Officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. of 3Com. "By sharing patents, 3Com and IBM have greater freedom to develop exciting new products and compete in new information technology market segments." IBM and 3Com have enjoyed a successful business and technology development relationship for over seven years, including collaborating on the IBM 8260 Multiprotocol hubs and IBM 8271 Ethernet LAN switches A network device that cross-connects clients, servers and network devices. Also known as a "frame switch," stand-alone LAN switches are common in all Ethernet networks. A four-port switch is also typically built into a wired or wireless router for homes and small business (see wireless , PC modems and network interface cards, and IBM's custom chip development and manufacture for 3Com CoreBuilder(R) products. Recently, IBM announced that 3Com would be using the PowerPC 405GP to reduce "system-on-a-chip" design and development time. Cross-Licensing Agreement for New Development Under the terms of the cross-licensing agreement, each company will receive a license under all patents that relate to their specific field of interest. IBM's portfolio includes fundamental patents on a wide range of networking technologies including server access, server load balancing The fine tuning of a computer system, network or disk subsystem in order to more evenly distribute the data and/or processing across available resources. For example, in clustering, load balancing might distribute the incoming transactions evenly to all servers, or it might redirect them , web caching, ATM/Ethernet/Token Ring technologies, network interface cards and network management, policy-based networking and virtual private networks, among others. 3Com's portfolio includes hardware and software patents on handheld connected organizers, network interface cards, analog and digital modem technology, network hubs, routers and switches, broadband networking technology, Voice over IP, and LAN telephony An IP telephony system that is contained within a local area network (LAN). See IP telephony and voice capable Ethernet switch. . About IBM IBM is the world's largest information technology company. More information on IBM and its advanced storage, microelectronics, networking, displays and other OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) The rebranding of equipment and selling it. The term initially referred to the company that made the products (the "original" manufacturer), but eventually became widely used to refer to the organization that buys the products and technologies can be found on the Web at http://www.ibm.com. About 3Com Corporation With approximately 300 million customers worldwide, 3Com Corporation connects more people to information in more ways than any other networking company. 3Com delivers innovative information access products and network system solutions to enterprises, small businesses, carriers and network service providers, PC OEMs and consumers. 3Com -- More connected.(TM) For further information, visit 3Com's World Wide Web site at www.3com.com or the press site at www.3com.com/pressbox. CoreBuilder and SuperStack are registered trademarks and More connected. is a trademark of 3Com Corporation. |
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