As I understand it, "free to any licensing obligation" refers to the fact that all patents are in house patents. No need to ask for an external patent and to pay a fee for this.
For example, WBT has to pay licensing fees to third parties for some of the patents they use. WBT is not "free of any licensing obligation".
Agreeing to grant a licence to Western Digital is not the same. All patents belongs to 4DS 100%, but, by contract, they agreed to grant a licence to use those patents to to WDC. This is e very important part of the JDA.
To the best of my knowledge this contract (the JDA) is still in force. So the WDC right to ask for a patent at low cost ( as mentionned in the 2015 prospectus) is still there.
But your english is better than mine, so I could certainly be wrong there.
I still believe that such an important change to the JDA should have been announced to the market.
What is the interest of WDC to even sign a JDA if they can't access the technology at a lower cost ?
What is the benefit of the JDA for them ?
4DS Price at posting:
10.5¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
