ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, December 21, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Sisvel announced today that it is facilitating the formation of a new joint licensing program, or patent pool, for Wi-Fi 802.11n devices and is issuing a call for patents essential to the IEEE 802.11 Standard. This announcement follows Sisvel's selection by a group of leading 802.11 patent owners.

All parties holding a patent believed to be essential for 802.11 standard specifications, as defined by IEEE Std. 802.11-2007 and IEEE Std. 802.11n-2009, are invited to apply for a review of essentiality by independent evaluators designated by Sisvel. As ratified by the IEEE, document IEEE Std. 802.11-2007 represents the base version of the standard that merged and includes the following eight prior amendments: 802.11a, b, d, e, g, h, i, j. Document IEEE Std. 802.11n-2009 is a further amendment to the 2007 standard document to add enhancements for higher throughput.

Those parties confirmed to hold at least one essential patent or patent application will be invited to participate in the formation of the joint licensing program (subject to certain terms and conditions). The formation process will begin with a meeting in mid January 2011.

To complete patent evaluations in time for this first meeting, applications for patent and application evaluations are requested to be filed as soon as possible. Detailed information on patent submission, as well as other procedures for participating in the facilitation process, can be obtained from Sisvel by sending an email to the following address: wifi@sisvel.com.

"Wireless connectivity is a vital function today and 802.11n technology is becoming more and more ubiquitous in electronic devices. Forming a pool for essential patents will benefit IP owners, manufacturers, and consumers of Wi-Fi technology," explained Gen. Richard Neal, President of Sisvel US, adding that, "We invite all patent owners that own or control patents believed to be essential to 802.11 to participate in this process."