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Topic: Legal

Apple licenses super-tough "Liquidmetal" technology

Summary: Apple has acquired a license to use the intellectual property developed by Liquidmetal Technologies.

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

By for Hardware 2.0 |

Apple has acquired a license to use the intellectual property developed by Liquidmetal Technologies.

There was no official announcement, the information was uncovered in an SEC filing by AppleInsider.

On August 5, 2010, Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Liquidmetal”), entered into a Master Transaction Agreement with Apple Inc., a California corporation (“Apple”), pursuant to which (i) Liquidmetal contributed substantially all of its intellectual property assets to a newly organized special-purpose, wholly-owned subsidiary (the “IP Company”), (ii) the IP Company granted to Apple a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize such intellectual property in the field of consumer electronic products in exchange for a license fee, and (iii) the IP Company granted back to Liquidmetal a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize such intellectual property in all other fields of use (together with all ancillary agreements, the “Master Transaction Agreement”).

Liquidmetal is interesting stuff. According to the website, the characteristics of the material is as follows:

  • High Yield Strength
  • High Hardness
  • Superior Strength/Weight Ratio
  • Superior Elastic Limit
  • High Corrosion Resistance
  • High Wear-Resistance
  • Unique Acoustical Properties

Liquidmetal also exhibits excellent strength and elastic properties:

I've come into contact with Liquidmetal in the past, as part of the casing for a super-strong Sandisk Cruzer Titanium USB flash drive. The casing of this drive took an insane amount of punishment and survived. I stamped on it, ran my office chair over it, drove over it, threw bricks at it, hit it with a baseball bat and it just wouldn't break. There's no doubt in my mind that Liquidmetal is tough stuff.

Liquidmetal could make for some interesting portable products.

Topics: Legal, Apple, Enterprise Software

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13 comments
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  • It all sounds well and good but...

    Will it blend?
    Mac Hosehead
    Reply Vote

    • FTW!!!1!oneone

      @Hosehead is first out of the gate, and wins teh intarwarb!

      But seriously (not really), this is the opening salvo in an arms race between Apple and blender manufacturers. Best of all, the consumer wins!
      Marcos El Malo
      Reply Vote

  • And what will Apple do with it?

    It's going to be interesting to see how Apple uses Liquidmetal. With Jobs and Jonny Ive, plus their engineering talent they have plenty of potential.
    Ken_z
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Apple licenses super-tough

    Wondrous. How long before it's applied to an actual product?
    mayadanteamihan
    Reply Vote

  • We must stop Apple. The future depends on it.

    So this is where the shape changing terminator's origins start. Surviving Apple employees are forced to create the first prototype.
    dave@...
    Reply Vote

  • This is HUGE!

    This will be a game changer !

    This material is amazing. Yes, the ball in the video bounces but the fact that it absorbs and redirects energy means it is also VERY scratch and dent resistant. It is also very radio frequency transparent which is huge with Apples' iPhone and iPad lines.

    Apple has effectively shut out the competition for ALL consumer electronic products with their exclusive rights as outlined is the SEC filing.
    thofts
    Reply Vote

  • Meh

    So - I'll buy a "Pencil case / Art Material" container from Liquidmetal, and transplant the innards of my current laptop.
    alan_r_cam
    Reply Vote

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