RPX Client Network Grows 150% in Six Months

San Francisco, CA – RPX Corp., the leading provider of patent risk solutions, today announced the addition of new clients from multiple technology sectors. These new companies increase RPX’s rapidly growing client network to 50 companies, up from 20 in January.

“More companies joining RPX means we can remove more problem patents from the market, and prevent them from being asserted against our clients,” said John Amster, CEO of RPX. “This compelling ‘network effect’ accelerates and drives our growth. RPX clients understand that as more companies join, we increase our acquisitions to remove more risk, which continually increases the value of their membership.”

The new clients include global electronics companies NEC Corporation and Hitachi, Ltd.; infrastructure software provider Novell, Inc.; semiconductor manufacturer Nanya Technology Corporation; software developer Lawson Software, Inc.; wireless voice and data solutions provider Leap Wireless International Inc.; speech-recognition leader Nuance Communications, Inc.; and the world’s largest bookseller, Barnes & Noble, Inc.

With continued increases in the number of – and legal costs associated with – patent assertions against companies using technology, the need for a solution has been growing. RPX offers its clients a rational, efficient alternative to treating each patent dispute as an extended legal conflict. In two years, RPX has redefined the IP landscape by providing companies with a market-based solution to lowering their operating costs and controlling the financial risks of patent assertions and litigations.

In recent years, non-practicing entities (NPEs) have raised more than $8 billion to buy and assert patents. NPE litigation has increased fourfold since 2001, and the number of defendants in each case is on the rise. The NPE cases during the first three months of 2010, for example, had an average of 7.6 defendants, up from 4.4 defendants per case in the first quarter of 2009.

To address this growing problem, RPX combines its ability to deploy principal capital with subscription fees from its client network to acquire high-value and potentially dangerous patents, removing them from circulation in the open market before they can be used offensively. Clients pay annual fees ranging from $40,000 to $5.2 million depending on company size, and automatically receive rights under the entire RPX patent portfolio.

To date, RPX has invested over $220 million to acquire more than 1,400 patents and patent rights in an array of key technology areas important to our clients: consumer electronics and PCs; e-commerce and software; media content and distribution; mobile devices and communications; networking; and semiconductors.

RPX will never assert patents or patent rights in its portfolio.

“Patent litigation involves risks, creates uncertainty, costs technology companies billions of dollars every year, and can become a major threat to their growth and profitability,” said Amster. “RPX services enable clients to manage patent risks with a cost-effective alternative to litigation.”