Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc. (LQMT) today announced that it has signed an amended sublicense agreement with Visser Precision Cast LLC (VPC) that Liquidmetal believes will accelerate the adoption of amorphous metal technology to the benefit of both companies. Under the new agreement, Liquidmetal is freed from its commitment to use VPC as its exclusive contract manufacturer, and VPC is freed from its commitment to use Liquidmetal as its exclusive sales and R&D channel. In addition, the companies have agreed to dismiss their private arbitration and have settled and released all claims and disputes between them.
“We are pleased to have reached this agreement with VPC, as we believe it is in the best interests of both companies,” said Tom Steipp, President and CEO of Liquidmetal, in a statement. “Under the new agreement, Liquidmetal is able to enter into contracts with other manufacturers to serve a broad array of specialized industries and geographies. We expect a network of manufacturers to leverage their customer relationships to readily identify promising applications, and to leverage their quality certifications and qualified supplier status to rapidly qualify parts for production. We believe that the ultimate beneficiaries will be our customers, who we expect will see, given multiple sources of supply, a more dynamic market for amorphous metal products with faster deployment of commercial technology and broader product offerings in all our target markets. We expect this arrangement to enable overall market growth to occur at a much more rapid rate.”
Ryan Coniam, President of VPC, said, “The agreement between Liquidmetal and VPC is a big step forward for both companies. The new agreement provides both companies with the flexibility to pursue independent sales and manufacturing strategies needed to rapidly grow the market for amorphous metal products. VPC has made substantial investments in its amorphous metal casting technology and we have proven the promise of this technology for several high-value applications. As an example, VPC manufactured missile canards for Lockheed Martin’s EAPS missile program, demonstrating the exacting tolerances that can be met with injection molded amorphous metal. VPC is also providing commercial-scale manufacturing for one of Liquidmetal’s licensees, demonstrating our capability to manufacture amorphous metal parts in large volumes.”
Bruce Bromage, Liquidmetal’s Executive Vice President of Operations, said, “VPC undertook the challenge of mastering mold design, casting and post-processing operations for a relatively new and advanced technology. We appreciate the investments VPC has made to commercialize this technology and to develop manufacturing solutions for novel applications, going the distance to satisfy the needs of our customers.”
Under the terms of the amended sublicense agreement, VPC will have rights to manufacture, market, and sell amorphous metal products directly to customers, and it will retain a license to the full portfolio of technology developed by Liquidmetal that exists as of the date of the agreement. Liquidmetal will have rights to contract with manufacturers of its choosing, and it will retain exclusive rights to any technology that Liquidmetal develops after the date of the agreement. The companies will work together to complete certain projects that VPC currently is manufacturing for Liquidmetal customers, and the companies may choose to work together in the future on a project-by-project basis.
Details of the agreement will be released by Liquidmetal in a forthcoming Form 8-K.
About Liquidmetal Technologies
Rancho Santa Margarita, California-based Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc. is the leading developer of bulk alloys and composites that utilize the performance advantages offered by amorphous alloy technology. Amorphous alloys are unique materials that are distinguished by their ability to retain a random structure when they solidify, in contrast to the crystalline atomic structure that forms in ordinary metals and alloys. Liquidmetal Technologies is the first company to produce amorphous alloys in commercially viable bulk form, enabling significant improvements in products across a wide array of industries. For more information, go to www.liquidmetal.com.
About Visser Precision Cast
Denver-based Visser Precision Cast, LLC provides advanced metals manufacturing solutions to its customers through amorphous casting, precision machining, and additive manufacturing (direct metal laser sintering). VPC, an ISO 1345 certified manufacturer, has experience producing metal prototypes and parts for many industries, including the aerospace and defense, automotive, medical device, consumer products, and luxury goods industries. For more information, go to www.visserprecisioncast.com.
Source: Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc.
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Well, good thing I’ve got my LQMT stake already. I have a feeling tomorrow’s going to be a very good day.
I hope that this means I can get my human body form in liquid metal soon, this means that I will no longer have to sleep in a bucket but in the human liquid metal figure!
Odo: I thought you would have preferred to sleep in your gold-pressed latinum pail.
And have the Ferengi’s steal it after pouring me down the space plug hole?
And Apple have exclusive rights for electronic devices !!!
Who’s not innovative now hmmm ?
Why do so many not see the how apple have up to these last 3 years i.e. Solar farms, whacking big server farms, renewable energy, Safire glass, 64 bit iOS and hardware. I could go on but I’ve made my point.
To me, (35 yrs in telco/it comms) this true innovation, not bells and whistles as some others (Samsung anyone ?).
This is not to say I buy the YKBAID crap because they don’t have this,that or the other bullshit that others have.
Apple was Jobs, Cook and Ive, now it’s Cook, Ive, and Angela (hopefully).
When Steve died, Apple had to basically had to re-invent itself in many ways. The loss of him left a huge gap no matter how much they all did to prepare for it.
This takes time !!!
I think Tim, Jony, Craig and all the exec team have done a brilliant job of stealing apple through what could be thought of as a “mourning” process” in some ways.
They have made mistakes sure but as Jobs always did, admit the fuck-up and move on. Remember the hockey puk mouse any body ? Jobs was not perfect, his first choice of a name for the computer that was to save Apple was “Macman” ! He had to be convinced that ” iMac” was better.
Anyway, they at Apple are up to something big no doubt about it. We will have to wait an see. Apple never releases anything until they deem it ready.
The issue is that LM is five times more pricey than aluminium. This limits breadth of its use.
It may be more pricy, but it’s very nature means that structurally, Apple could use less material but maintain, or probably exceed the rigidity of the current aluminium frame of the iP5.
I much prefer the steel frame of my old iP4, it’s much tougher, and less easy to damage, and Liquidmetal is even harder.
My dream is an iPhone 6 with a Liquidmetal frame and sapphire crystal front and rear panels.
Light and super-tough.
Google Glass anyone?
No…
Just no.