Certicom Licenses Intellectual Property to Research In Motion (RIM)
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario–May 3, 2004–Certicom Corp. (TSX: CIC), the authority for strong, efficient cryptography, today announced that Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq:RIMM; TSX:RIM) has licensed the Security Builder(R) Crypto toolkit and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC)-based intellectual property from Certicom. This agreement allows RIM to extend its existing ECC-based security from Certicom in its BlackBerry(R) offerings.
Implementing secure, wireless solutions is a top priority for most IT executives. BlackBerry has become popular in many government and enterprise organizations because it provides secure, integrated, push-based access to important communications and information. Since 2000, RIM has been using Certicom’s Security Builder developer toolkits, and in particular its strong and efficient ECC libraries, to enhance security for the BlackBerry wireless platform.
ECC provides the most security per bit of any known public-key scheme. This results in faster computations, lower power consumption, as well as memory and bandwidth savings. Last year, the National Security Agency (NSA) purchased extensive licensing rights to Certicom’s ECC-based intellectual property, validating ECC’s strength and leading the way to future adoption.
“With more than one million subscribers, BlackBerry has become the wireless solution of choice for many enterprise and government organizations. Much of this success can be attributed to RIM’s focus on efficient security that’s extremely important to users,” said Ian McKinnon, president and CEO of Certicom. “We are pleased to be licensing our security technology to RIM. This agreement represents another important validation of our ECC-based intellectual property.”
Under the agreement, RIM will pay a one-time US$3.5 million intellectual property license fee, entitling them to deploy a fixed number of seats. The agreement provides for additional revenue through royalties once RIM exceeds the prepaid number of seats. Certicom will be recognizing the license revenue over three years starting in the first quarter of fiscal 2005 which begins on May 1, 2004.
About Research In Motion (RIM)
Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications. RIM technology also enables a broad array of third party developers and manufacturers to enhance their products and services with wireless connectivity. RIM’s portfolio of award-winning products, services and embedded technologies are used by thousands of organizations around the world and include the BlackBerry(R) wireless platform, the RIM Wireless Handheld(TM) product line, software development tools, radio-modems and software/hardware licensing agreements. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. RIM is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq: RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RIM). For more information, visit www.rim.com or www.blackberry.com.
About Certicom
Certicom Corp. (TSX: CIC) is the authority for strong, efficient cryptography required by software vendors and device manufacturers to embed security in their products. Adopted by the US Government’s National Security Agency (NSA), Certicom technologies for Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) provide the most security per bit of any known public key scheme, making it ideal for constrained environments. Certicom products and services are currently licensed to more than 300 customers including Motorola, Oracle, Research In Motion, Terayon, Texas Instruments and XM Radio. Founded in 1985, Certicom is headquartered in Mississauga, ON, Canada, with offices in Ottawa, ON; Reston, VA; San Mateo, CA; and London, England. Visit www.certicom.com.