“In 2010 Apple paid Liquidmetal Technologies 20 million dollars for the rights to Liquidmetal in the consumer electronics category. The master transaction agreement between the two companies can be broken down into two parts. The perpetual license granted to Apple in the category of consumer electronics and the research and development agreement between both companies which expired last month,” John L. Cameron writes for Seeking Alpha. “Liquidmetal entered into a license agreement with Apple on August 5, 2010 for a one-time fully paid fee of twenty million dollars which gives Apple Computer an exclusive, perpetual license to commercialize Liquidmetal’s technology in the category of consumer electronics.”
“This means that Apple paid for the right to have the exclusive use of Liquidmetal in the consumer electronics category. They will not have to pay Liquidmetal any additional royalties for this right going forward. Essentially it protects Apple from having to worry about their competitors using Liquidmetal’s patented alloys in their products,” Cameron writes. “The license is perpetual which means that the license is ongoing and does not expire. The part of the MTA that expired on February 6th 2014 only pertains to the two companies sharing intellectual property, not the exclusive use of Liquidmetal in consumer electronics.”
“The MTA also grants Apple the right to license Liquidmetal to other companies within the consumer electronics category. Liquidmetal retains the rights to their technology to all other categories outside of the consumer electronics category. If you read carefully, you will also notice that Liquidmetal does in fact still have the ability to license their technology in the field of consumer electronics with Apple’s permission,” Cameron writes. “Basically, Apple has footed the bill and provided Liquidmetal with years of expensive research and development to commercialize their technology at no expense to Liquidmetal. Thanks to Apple, Liquidmetal now has the ability to mass produce Liquidmetal alloys and can now work on sales and revenue streams for the company. The agreement not being renewed, as well as the flood of patents filed last year, only confirms what CEO Thomas Steipp is telling us. This company is no longer in the R&D stage. Now both Liquidmetal is in the process of commercializing the technology and I believe that Apple going to use it in production for their upcoming products. I feel it’s very easy to see that commercialization of this technology is under way and revenue streams will be developed shortly.”
“As part of the extension by Apple in 2012 to the master transaction agreement they included a right of refusal for 18 months after the end of the agreement. The agreement ended on February 6th 2014,” Cameron writes. “I found this very interesting in that Apple would be able to purchase Liquidmetal if another company (Lockheed Martin, Materion Brush?) came knocking during the course of those months. Maybe it’s Apple’s plan to purchase Liquidmetal after all.”
Much more in the full article here.
Related articles:
17 new Apple patent applications detail Liquidmetal alloy use in device buttons, touch sensors, and more – January 14, 2014
Apple patent application reveals sapphire flexible transparent display devices created with Liquidmetal – December 19, 2013
Apple files five Liquidmetal patent applications – November 22, 2013
Four new Apple Liquidmetal-related patents revealed in Europe – September 26, 2013
Apple patent application reveals methods of forming 3D structures with Liquidmetal – July 25, 2013
Apple and Liquidmetal scientists granted new patent that could enable Liquidmetal production on a massive scale – July 16, 2013
Apple patent application reveals new machinery for creating Liquidmetal forms – January 31, 2013
Liquidmetal ships first amorphous alloy production parts – November 16, 2012
Liquidmetal Technologies Inc. and Materion announce sales channel collaboration – September 7, 2012
Futuristic Liquidmetal alloy could transform Apple products – August 15, 2012
Why did Apple lock in Liquidmetal for two more years? – June 25, 2012
New Apple agreement suggests Liquidmetal iPhone will arrive within two years – June 20, 2012
Apple extends Liquidmetal exclusivity deal through February 2014 – June 19, 2012
Why is Apple investing in equipment and machinery at an exponential rate? – May 23, 2012
Apple’s recent huge investments in plants and equipment for Liquidmetal use in iOS devices, Macs? – May 22, 2012
Apple patent app details new, possibly Liquidmetal-based speakerphone system for iOS devices – May 17, 2012
Apple and Liquidmetal: Don’t go by co-inventor’s word, he hasn’t worked for Liquidmetal since 2007 – May 6, 2012
Liquidmetal inventor: Apple will use it in a ‘breakthrough product’ that will be very difficult to copy – May 2, 2012
Whoa! This Liquidmetal iPhone 5 concept looks real – May 2, 2012
Check out these ultra-thin next-gen Liquidmetal iPhone artist’s concept images – May 1, 2012
Is Apple Inc.’s bet on Liquidmetal about to pay off? – April 30, 2012
Liquidmetal Technologies filing outlines its multimillion dollar agreement with Apple – March 31, 2012
Apple granted its first Liquidmetal patent – January 5, 2011
Apple patent application describes scratch-resistant stainless steel – October 29, 2010
Join the dots on six future Apple technologies – September 22, 2010
Apple already using Liquidmetal in their… – August 17, 2010
Inventor says Liquidmetal may be used for new iPhone antenna – August 13, 2010
How will Apple use their exclusive Liquidmetal alloy? – August 12, 2010
Apple’s exclusive Liquidmetal pact could see future Apple products encased in metallic glass – August 11, 2010
Apple inks deal for exclusive rights to custom, super-durable metal alloy – August 09, 2010