Visto Corporation had signed a licensing agreement with NTP, while NTP moved to acquire an equity stake in Visto.
The Visto platform enables the instantaneous and secure two-way delivery of email, contacts and calendar updates.
NTP’s patents, which include a broad spectrum of claims centered on the transmission of wireless data, complement Visto’s own IP portfolio of 25 patents that relate to mobile access to email and data.
Those NTP patents are in the object of a lawsuit involving Rsearch In Motion (RIM) which uses simnilar technologies on its own Blackberry mobile device.
The agreement gives Visto access to NTP's patents for the life of those patents, providing Visto’s customers and partners with access to Visto’s technology in the mobile email market.
The press release also says the agreement "provides... stability in these turbulent times", which may indicate the deal was the result of a settlement, but no words on this were disclosed.
Visto provides business-focused mobile mail services across Europe, USA and Asia through major agreements with the Vodafone Group, Sprint-Nextel, and Rogers Wireless among others. During the past year, Visto has gained rapid momentum, with Visto Mobile currently available from more than 20 wireless operators around the world on more than 60 mobile phone models.
