MONSEY, N.Y., September 14, 1998 - General Patent Corporation (GPC) has reached an out-of-court settlement with New Media Corporation (Irvine, Cal.) in a patent infringement suit brought by GPC against seven leading modem manufacturers in May 1997 to enforce four of GPC's patents which cover specific aspects of PCMCIA devices, PC card modems and other computer communications devices.
As part of the settlement, GPC obtained an equity stake in New Media. Licensing terms also include ongoing royalties.
"We are happy to become New Media's shareholder," said Alexander Poltorak, Ph.D., GPC's Chairman and CEO. "New Media enjoys excellent brand name recognition, and is poised to regain its leadership position in the modem market," he added.
Most of the defendants in the lawsuit have settled out-of-court by licensing GPC's patents. Additional litigation is pending in New York against Motorola.
The patents include U.S. Patent Nos. 4,543,450 ("Integrated Connector and Modem"), U.S. Patent Nos. 4,603,320 ("Connector Interface"), 4,686,506 ("Multiple Connector Interface") and 4,972,470 ("Programmable Connector").