Apple has renewed the agreement giving it exclusive rights to use Liquidmetal Technologies’ unique metal alloys in its line of products. The extension, listed in a document filed on Monday with the SEC, extends the agreement until February 5, 2016.
On June 17, 2015, Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc. (the “Company”) and Apple Inc. (“Apple”) entered into a third amendment (the “Third Amendment”) to the Master Transaction Agreement that was originally entered into on August 5, 2010 and amended on June 15, 2012 and May 17, 2014 (the “MTA”). Under the MTA and its first two amendments in 2012 and 2014, the Company was obligated to contribute to Crucible Intellectual Property, LLC, a special purpose subsidiary of the Company, all intellectual property acquired or developed by the Company from August 5, 2010 through February 5, 2015, and all intellectual property held by Crucible Intellectual Property, LLC was exclusively licensed on a perpetual basis to Apple for the field of use of consumer electronic products under the MTA. Under the Third Amendment, the parties agreed to extend the February 5, 2015 date to February 5, 2016. The Third Amendment has an effective date of February 26, 2015.
While Liquidmetal’s alloys are of interest to Apple – due to their high strength, corrosion resistance, light weight, and malleability – the only confirmed use Apple has made of the technology so far is to develop the SIM removal tool for the iPhone 3G.
Apple continues to look at developing products using the Liquidmetal technology, and has been rumored to be considering using it for such iOS device components as Home buttons, touch sensors, and screws.
(Via MacRumors)
