In a recent SEC filing, Liquidmetal Technologies — a company that develops and commercializes amorphous metals — signed an agreement with Apple, Inc. that granted the iDevice maker licensing to all of Liquidmetal’s intellectual property. The filing reads:
On August 5, 2010, Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Liquidmetal”), entered into a Master Transaction Agreement with Apple Inc., a California corporation (“Apple”), pursuant to which (i) Liquidmetal contributed substantially all of its intellectual property assets to a newly organized special-purpose, wholly-owned subsidiary (the “IP Company”), (ii) the IP Company granted to Apple a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize such intellectual property in the field of consumer electronic products in exchange for a license fee, and (iii) the IP Company granted back to Liquidmetal a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize such intellectual property in all other fields of use (together with all ancillary agreements, the “Master Transaction Agreement”).
Amorphous metals could be desirable to mobile electronics makers for their overall durability and flexibility in manufacturing. Plus, who could forget that high-end luxury cell phone manufacturer Vertu used Liquidmetal Alloy in their Ascent series (and even demonstrated them being run over by a Porsche to showcase their durability).
