SigmaTel Licenses MP3 IP to U.K. Distributor

Austin, Texas-based mixed-signal IC provider SigmaTel Inc. today said it will license its MP3 intellectual property (IP) to U.K.-based consumer electronic retailer/distributor Techsplosion Ltd. As part of SigmaTel's global licensing program, Techsplosion will pay royalties on portable audio devices sold that are not based on SigmaTel technology. After a short transition period, Techsplosion will pay a 4 percent royalty, or four euros for every 100 euros, on the sale of MP3 players that are not based on SigmaTel. "We intend to require all of our players to be SigmaTel-based in the near future. We are pleased with the opportunity to offer our customers SigmaTel's market-leading MP3 technology," Techsplosion's Amar Kapoor of, said in a statement. "We respect the impressive IP portfolio that SigmaTel has established and wish to honor those patents in our business via a royalty for any non-SigmaTel-based player sold in the future." SigmaTel announced the expansion of the company's IP licensing program in January of this year. The licensing program is focused on IP used in MP3 players or in portable audio SoC applications for MP3 players and covers patents that SigmaTel has been awarded or has acquired in China, Korea, Europe and the United States. "SigmaTel's business is based on innovation and our continued success is based on our ability to protect that innovation," said Ron Edgerton, president and CEO of SigmaTel, in a statement. "The agreement with Techsplosion guarantees that consumers in Europe will continue to benefit from the best portable audio technology available in the marketplace today."