Oct 31 2009
ICAP Ocean Tomo, a unit of ICAP Plc (IAP.L), announced today it has been engaged to exclusively license an intellectual property portfolio developed by researchers at the world-renowned Liquid Crystal Institute at Kent State University.
The portfolio contains 21 U.S. issued patents encompassing two sub-portfolios in polymer-stabilized LCD technology and liquid crystal alignment. The assets have been cited by industry giants such as Samsung Electronics, Sharp, LG Philips, Sony, Nokia, AT&T, Motorola, and Canon.
“We are very pleased to be collaborating with ICAP Ocean Tomo to extend our market reach in making these important technologies available to the global LCD industry,” said Dr. John West, Vice President for Research at Kent State University.
The Kent State patent portfolio focuses primarily on LCD fabrication. Specifically, the patents apply to the production of stable liquid crystal devices, optical compensation films, polymers for alignment layers, and Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS). These technologies improve power and transmission efficiency, enhancing LCD characteristics such as viewing angle, contrast ratio, and color fidelity. Many of the portfolios’ offered solutions involve minimal and inexpensive modifications to existing production lines.
“This portfolio would be a valuable acquisition for LCD device manufacturers, mobile phone manufacturers, consumer electronics brands, and polymer and optical device manufacturers,” said Cameron Gray, Ph.D., J.D., ICAP Ocean Tomo Vice President. “These two sub-portfolios offer a rare opportunity to exclusively license LCD technologies from Kent State University’s Liquid Crystal Institute. Such an acquisition can build on an existing portfolio or anchor a portfolio.”
Source: http://www.icap.com/