Freedom Wireless Inc. scored another licensing agreement as Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. agreed to use the patent holding company’s prepaid wireless billing technology.
The agreement resolves Freedom’s claims of patent infringement against the mobile virtual network operator-a joint venture between Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Sprint Nextel Corp.-and Virgin agreed to pay royalties for future use of the technology. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Over an extended period, Freedom and Virgin Mobile have negotiated in good faith to reach a settlement and license agreement that is acceptable to both parties,” said Dan Schulman, chief executive officer of Virgin Mobile USA. “This agreement allows both companies to move ahead with our business goals without litigation.”
The move marks a second big win for Freedom Wireless, which has been derided as a “patent troll” with no products or services on the market. Freedom earlier this year settled a long-running dispute with Boston Communications Group Inc. when the Massachusetts software developer agreed to pay $55.3 million for licensing rights.
The patent at issue addresses a 10-year-old concept of using a computer to match a mobile-phone number with a database showing account information. The software completes the call if a user has enough minutes in the prepaid account.
It appears Freedom is running out of legal targets, however. The company agreed to drop litigation against BCGI’s carrier customers and co-defendants, including Cingular Wireless L.L.C., Sprint Nextel and Alltel Corp. Boost Mobile L.L.C.-also owned by Sprint Nextel, however, has used Freedom Wireless’ technology in the past, and may yet find itself the subject of a lawsuit.
