Exhibit 10.2
DISMISSAL AND LICENSE OPTION
AGREEMENT
This Dismissal and License Option
Agreement (this “Agreement”) is made and entered into
as of this
day of May, 2009 (the “Effective Date”), by and between
OPTi, Inc., a California corporation having its place of business
at 3430 W. Bayshore Road, Suite 103, Palo Alto, California 94303
(“OPTi”) and Atmel Corporation, a Delaware corporation
having its place of business at 2325 Orchard Parkway, San Jose,
California 95131, acting on behalf of itself and its Subsidiaries
(Atmel Corporation and its Subsidiaries, collectively,
“Atmel”). OPTi and Atmel are individually referred to
as a “Party” and collectively as the
“Parties”.
WHEREAS, OPTi has filed patent
infringement claims against Atmel and other co-defendants in the
Civil Action No. 2:07-cv-00278-TJW (E.D. Tex.) (the
“Lawsuit”).
WHEREAS, Atmel denies that it does
now or has ever infringed any of the patents asserted in the
Lawsuit or committed any act that would entitle OPTi to any of the
relief it is seeking from Atmel in the Lawsuit; and
WHEREAS, OPTi and Atmel desire to
avoid the time and expense of litigation, and in compromise of the
disputed claims, to dismiss the Lawsuit against Atmel and grant
Atmel an option to acquire a license from OPTi as set forth in this
Agreement.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of
the foregoing and the undertakings and options granted herein, and
other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency
of which are hereby acknowledged, the aforementioned Parties agree
as follows:
As used herein:
a. “Asserted Patents”
shall mean any and all patents asserted by OPTi in the Lawsuit,
including without limitation U.S. Patent No. 5,944,807 and
U.S. Patent No. 6,098,141, and any patent or patent
application that claims priority directly or indirectly to, or from
which priority is directly or indirectly claimed with respect to,
any of the foregoing patents or any patent or patent application to
which the foregoing patents claim priority, whether or not pending,
issued, expired, abandoned or closed, including without limitation
any and all reexaminations, reissues, continuations, divisions,
continuations-in-part and foreign counterparts of any of the
foregoing patents anywhere in the world.
b. “Dismissal Period”
shall mean the period commencing on the Effective Date and ending
forty-five (45) days after the Final Resolution (as defined in
paragraph 3 of this Agreement).
c. “Subsidiary” of a
specified Party shall mean any corporation or other entity that is
directly or indirectly controlled by such Party. For purposes of
this definition, control means (i) direct or indirect
ownership of, or the exclusive right to acquire ownership of, more
than fifty percent (50%) of the outstanding shares or
securities entitled to vote for the election of directors or
similar managing authority of an entity; or (ii) the direct or
indirect right to vote or to direct the vote (by written proxy or
otherwise) of more than fifty percent (50%) of the ownership
interest representing the right to elect directors or similar
managing authority of an entity. An entity shall be deemed to be a
Subsidiary under this Agreement at any time that the requisite
conditions of being a Subsidiary are met, except that entities
which are co-defendants in the Lawsuit may not become Subsidiaries
of Atmel for the purposes of this Agreement.
a. The Parties hereby agree that the
Lawsuit between the Parties, including all claims made by OPTi
against Atmel therein, shall be fully and promptly dismissed
without prejudice. Within five (5) business days after the
Effective Date, each Party shall cause its counsel to have signed
and filed all necessary dismissals, stipulations, orders and other
documents with respect to the Lawsuit to effect a complete
dismissal without prejudice of all claims, demands and causes of
action brought by OPTi against Atmel and all claims by Atmel
against OPTi in the Lawsuit. The Parties shall proceed with any and
all additional procedures necessary to dismiss such claim without
prejudice.
b. In accordance with
Section 2.a above, Atmel shall pay OPTi one hundred twenty
five thousand U.S. dollars ($125,000) (the “Dismissal
Payment”) by wire transfer within five (5) business days
after entry of an Order of Dismissal.
c. During the Dismissal Period, OPTi
will not bring any claim or suit alleging infringement of or to
otherwise assert any of the Asserted Patents: (i) against
Atmel or any Subsidiary of Atmel; or (ii) against any direct
or indirect Atmel customer, distributor, OEM, dealer, reseller,
user, vendor, manufacturing or assembly facility, assembly or
testing facility or other third party with respect to any Atmel
product or service (alone or in combination with other components)
manufactured, used, sold, offered for sale, imported or otherwise
exploited by such entity. The preceding sentence shall be referred
to as the “Standstill Obligation.” The Standstill
Obligation shall run with the title of the Asserted Patents, and
shall be binding on OPTi’s successors, assigns, licensees,
and any other person or entity who obtains from OPTi a direct or
indirect ownership or other interest (including any enforcement
right) in or to the Asserted Patents. The Standstill Obligation
shall not constitute and shall not be deemed to constitute a
release of or license to Atmel or any of its customers, and any
injunctive or monetary relief that OPTi may be entitled to recover
against Atmel or its customers shall continue to accrue during the
Dismissal Period and shall not be limited, diminished or abated by
OPTi’s compliance with the Standstill Obligation. Neither
shall OPTi’s compliance with the Standstill Obligation be
deemed to constitute a waiver or estoppel of or laches as to any
monetary or equitable right of recovery that OPTi may have against
Atmel or its customers.
d. During the Dismissal Period,
Atmel shall refrain from bringing suit seeking a declaration as to
the noninfringement, invalidity, or unenforceability of the
Asserted Patents, or seeking reexamination or reissuance of the
Asserted Patents or similar relief.
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3.
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Notice of
Final Resolution
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“Final Resolution” of
the Lawsuit shall occur upon the resolution of all claims and
counterclaims in the Lawsuit via any combination of the dismissal
of claims and counterclaims, the entry of final judgment as to all
claims and counterclaims, and/or the waiver of all rights of appeal
as to such judgments. Within ten (10) business days of the
Final Resolution, OPTi shall provide Atmel with written notice that
the Final Resolution has occurred (the “Notice of Final
Resolution”).
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4.
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License
Option and Releases
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a. Commencing upon transmission of
the Notice of Final Resolution and for a period of forty-five
(45) days thereafter, Atmel shall have the right and option,
in its sole discretion and without any obligation to exercise such
option, to acquire the license to the Asserted Patents described
below upon payment of the License Fee defined below and execution
by Atmel and delivery to OPTi of the exercise notice attached as
Exhibit A hereto (the “License Option Exercise
Notice”). This option shall run with the title of the
Asserted Patents, and shall be binding on OPTi’s successors,
assigns, licensees, and any other person or entity who obtains from
OPTi a direct or indirect ownership or other interest (including
any enforcement right) in or to the Asserted Patents.
b. For purposes of this Agreement,
the “License Fee” shall mean a payment by Atmel to OPTi
of $25,000 by wire transfer.
c. Upon payment of the Licensee Fee
and execution by Atmel and delivery to OPTi of the License Option
Exercise Notice or upon termination by Atmel pursuant to
Section 7.c, OPTi automatically and without the need for any
further action or documentation grants to Atmel, and Atmel
automatically and without the need for any further action or
documentation receives a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual,
irrevocable, paid up and royalty-free license, without the right to
sublicense, under the Asserted Patents (and any related
patents/filings) to make, have made, use, offer for sale, import
and sell (directly and indirectly through multiple tiers of
distribution) any products or services. For the avoidance of doubt,
the restriction on sublicensing set forth herein shall not be
interpreted to restrict Atmel’s right to engage with third
parties in connection with the design, development, manufacturing,
packaging, assembly, testing, sale, distribution and other similar
activities with respect to Atmel’s products and
services.
d. Upon Atmel’s payment of the
License Fee and exercise of the license option as set forth in
Section 4.c:
(i) OPTi releases, acquits and
discharges Atmel and all of its officers, directors, employees and
agents from and against any and all claims, demands, liabilities
and rights of action of any kind and nature, at law, in equity, or
otherwise, known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed
and undisclosed, which OPTi may have or obtain relating to the
Asserted Patents or the Lawsuit, including without limitation those
arising on account of any infringement or alleged infringement of
any Asserted Patent (whether direct, contributory or by inducement,
and whether or not willful); and
(ii) OPTi releases, acquits and
discharges Atmel’s direct and indirect past, present and
future customers, retailers, wholesalers, distributors, dealers,
resellers, users, OEMs, vendors, manufacturing or assembly
facilities, assembly or testing facilities, and other similar
companies from and against any and all claims, demands, liabilities
and rights of action of any kind and nature, at law, in equity, or
otherwise, known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed
and undisclosed, relating to any infringement or alleged
infringement of any of the Asserted Patents (whether direct,
contributory or by inducement, and whether or not willful) or
otherwise related to the Lawsuit, to the extent