Golden Eye Technologies LLC (“GET”) owns patents that relate to four different technology areas:
- GETC Portfolio: 4G/5G cellular technologies
- GETP Portfolio: Wi-Fi Passpoint technologies
- GETH Portfolio: Wi-Fi HaLow (IEEE 802.11ah) technologies
- GETL Portfolio: Location-based services in a Wi-Fi environment
FRAND/RAND Principles
GETC portfolio includes patents which may be or may become essential to implementing industry standards, and for which commitments to be prepared to grant licenses on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (“FRAND”) terms and conditions, to the extent the patents are essential, were made by the prior owners of the patents. GETP and GETH portfolios include patents for which similar commitments were made by the prior owners with respect to licensing on reasonable and non-discriminatory (“RAND”) terms and conditions. GET is committed to honoring these FRAND/RAND commitments.
For more information regarding the specific rates GET is prepared to accept, as well as the scope of the licensing commitments made and the assets in the respective portfolios, please see:
- GETC Portfolio: 4G/5G cellular technologies
- GETP Portfolio: Wi-Fi Passpoint technologies
- GETH Portfolio: Wi-Fi HaLow (IEEE 802.11ah) technologies
- IEEE 802.11ax technologies
Presentations regarding FRAND/RAND royalty rates for 4G/5G related patents including, amongst other things, announced rates as well as those determined using judicially endorsed top-down and bottom-up analyses, are available upon request.
GET believes its approach to making specific offers is FRAND/RAND. To the extent an implementer disagrees, GET encourages such implementers, as a matter of good faith negotiations, to explain their position regarding FRAND/RAND terms and conditions and provide support for the same. For example, this can be done by referring to other licenses entered into with respect to patents relating to the same or comparable standards, including those patents owed by the implementer itself.
Notwithstanding any specific offers made, if the parties are unable to reach a mutually agreeable licensing arrangement through good faith bilateral negotiations GET is prepared to negotiate an arbitration agreement for resolving the matter. Specifically, GET is open to negotiating arbitration terms that are appropriate in view of the amount at stake and that are fair to both parties. GET is also open to mediating in appropriate circumstances.
GETC Portfolio: 4G/5G Cellular Technologies
The GETC patents relate to, among other things, the 4G/5G standards covering Carrier Aggregation and Dual Connectivity technologies. Carrier Aggregation enables substantial increases in throughput by combining multiple frequency channels at the same cell site (see the 3GPP overview of the technology here). Dual Connectivity adds the ability to further increase throughput by combining multiple frequency channels from different cell sites (see for instance here). Dual Connectivity also enables the combination of different Radio Access Technologies, for instance 4G/LTE and 5G. This combination allows for a quick deployment of 5G technology as a Non-Stand Alone (NSA) system (see, for instance, GSMA’s 5G Implementation Guidelines).
GETP Portfolio: Wi-Fi Passpoint Technologies
The GETP patents relate to Wi-Fi Passpoint technologies, which allow for more efficient access to Wi-Fi networks. For instance, Passpoint allows cellular carriers to make the connection of smartphones to their Wi-Fi hotspots transparent to their end users. Passpoint devices are being certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance. The Passpoint certification is now part of the new Wi-Fi Vantage certification, which covers critical technologies being certified through the Wi-Fi Alliance.
GETH Portfolio: Wi-Fi HaLow (IEEE 802.11ah) Technologies
The GETH patents relate to Wi-Fi HaLow technologies, based on the IEEE 802.11ah standard, which allow devices to get Wi-Fi connectivity using spectrum under 1GHz. Lower frequency spectrum significantly improves the propagation of radio wave, which reduces the power required to communicate over longer distances, making this spectrum particularly well-suited for Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications. Furthermore, the 802.11ah standard was developed specifically to allow low power consumption, introducing several technologies to adapt 802.11 to IoT applications. Wi-Fi HaLow devices offer significant advantages over devices based on other low-power wireless technologies (see, for instance, this Wi-Fi Alliance whitepaper for more details). Some of the GETH patents are also applicable to IEEE 802.11ai and/or IEEE 802.11ax.
GETL Portfolio: Location-Based Services in a Wi-Fi Environment
The GETL patents relate to the localization of devices in Wi-Fi networks. These technologies are particularly useful for enterprise and commercial deployments, where localization of users and assets is becoming a must-have feature.
For further information on these portfolios, please contact us.