Yissum Research Development Company of the Hebrew University has sold Nanosys of the US a license to use three nanotechnology patents developed by Prof. Uri Banin of Hebrew University. Nanosys committed to investing up to $1.5 million in developing the patents over the next four years. Nanosys will also pay Yissum royalties for any future products developed on the basis of Banin’s technology.
The patents are for new stable infrared-emitting nanocrystals. The new nanocrystals could be used for optical communications, lasers, and light emitting diodes (LED).
Nanosys initiated the deal. Nanosys has bought nanotechnology patents from Harvard University, UCLA, MIT, and other universities. As mentioned above, in addition to the investment, Yissum will receive a percentage of Nanosys’s net revenue from the sale of products based on its patents, and from sales to third parties that buy secondary licenses.
Yissum VP marketing - materials & technologies sector manager Elena Canetti says Nanosys received exclusive rights to nanoelectronics, electro-optics, and nanobiological patents. The royalties will be priced by sector, with the highest for nanobiology and the lowest for electro-optics.
The agreement is valid for 15-20 years - either for the patents’ lifespan, or for 15 years from the date of the first sale of technology based on the patents. Canetti estimates Yissum will earn tens of thousands of dollars a year in the first eight years of the agreement, and hundreds of thousands in the final 8-10 years of the patents’ lifespan.
Nanosys recently completed a $30 million financing round, and has raised $65 million to date.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on June 3, 2003