Zecotek Photonics Inc., a developer of leading-edge photonics technologies for medical, industrial and scientific markets, today announced that it has entered into a joint collaboration agreement with Intellectual Ventures (IV®) of Bellevue, Washington.
The two companies will collaborate on intellectual property strategy, including the sourcing, development, and monetization of new inventions related to photonics. IV is one of the largest owners of U.S. patents and works closely with inventors to develop and protect intellectual property.
“The agreement with Intellectual Ventures marks another important step for Zecotek in the effort to build and protect its valuable patent portfolio of over 50 patents,” said Dr. A. Faouzi Zerrouk, Founder and CEO of Zecotek. "The collaboration with Intellectual Ventures aims to enhance the innovation pipelines available to Zecotek, further strengthen our intellectual property portfolio, and align us with the world’s leading specialty invention company."
"Intellectual Ventures is proud to collaborate with and offer consultation to Zecotek, a cutting-edge photonics technology company," said Chris Alliegro, Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Invention Development Fund at Intellectual Ventures. "The inventors at Zecotek are truly world-class, and through this collaboration we will create a strong portfolio of photonics related inventions and patents that bring further innovation to important products such as PET-MRI imaging systems used in medical, and industrial systems.”
The agreement also provides Zecotek with the opportunity to license IP and technologies from the IV Invention Development Fund’s own portfolio of photonics related inventions and patents created with its network of more than 4,000 inventors – including individual inventors and inventors from government labs, research institutions, corporations and universities. As part of the terms of the agreement, Intellectual Ventures will have the first right of refusal to purchase any inventions or patents Zecotek may choose to divest.
Zecotek intends to issue shares for services to Intellectual Ventures in exchange for the provisions included in the joint collaboration agreement. The provisions of the agreement and the issuance of shares for service are subject to approval by the TSXV and to compliance with all applicable regulatory requirements.