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United States
Securities and Exchange Commission
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): January 28, 2000
GEOWORKS CORPORATION
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(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware 000-23926 94-292037
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(State or other jurisdiction of (Commission File No.) (I.R.S. Employer
incorporation or organization) Identification No.)
960 Atlantic Avenue, Alameda, California 94501
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(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)
510-814-1660
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(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
Not Applicable
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(Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last
report)
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ITEM 5: OTHER EVENTS.
The Registrant announced a licensing program concerning patented intellectual
property rights relating to the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and the
Wireless Markup Language (WML) specification.
For additional information, see the press release regarding this event, which
is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.04.
ITEM 7. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND EXHIBITS.
(a) Not applicable.
(b) Not applicable.
(c) Exhibits.
99.04 Press release of the Company dated January 19, 2000.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned executive officer.
Date: January 28, 2000
GEOWORKS CORPORATION
by: /s/ Donald G. Ezzell
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Donald G. Ezzell
General Counsel and Secretary
(Duly Authorized Officer)
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GEOWORKS CORPORATION
INDEX TO EXHIBITS
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Exhibit No. Description
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99.04 Press release of the Company dated January 19, 2000.
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Exhibit 99.04
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT
Kristy Jarosh, The Weber Group
+1 (503)-790-9042
[email protected]
Bob Bogard, Geoworks
+1 (510) 814-5811
[email protected]
GEOWORKS ANNOUNCES INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS POSITION ON WAP AND INITIATES
LICENSING PROGRAM
Company Supports One, Open Standard For Wireless/Internet Communications
ALAMEDA, Calif. (January 19, 2000) - Geoworks Corporation (NASDAQ: GWRX), a
pioneer in wireless data communications services and technologies, today
announced it has officially informed the WAP Forum and its members that it holds
essential Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) for the Wireless Application
Protocol (WAP), and the Wireless Markup Language (WML) Specification, and has
established a licensing program to make this IPR available to all WAP Forum
members. In May of 1999, Geoworks, in accordance with WAP Forum guidelines, was
the first WAP member to announce its patented technology is employed as
essential technology in the WAP standard. In accordance with the WAP Forum's IPR
protocol, Geoworks has now informed all WAP Forum members that it is pursuing
licensing of its patented technology on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory
terms and conditions.
The Geoworks patent for invention of a flexible user interface for mobile
communications devices (US Patent #5,327,529) is potentially implicated by
products and services based on the WAP specification. Geoworks holds this patent
for devices, including mobile phones, which are based on the WAP specification
and placed into the stream of commerce in the United States and Japan.
According to Boston-based industry analysts The Yankee Group, more than 52
million WAP handsets are expected to be shipped in the United States by 2004. In
Japan, J-Phone, IDO and DDI already support the WAP standard and NTT DoCoMo, the
world's largest wireless carrier, has announced its intention to support WAP.
"As part of our support for WAP and a single industry standard, Geoworks is
happy to make its proprietary technology available to all members of the WAP
Forum," said Dave Grannan, President and CEO of Geoworks Corporation. "We will
be actively working with all members to ensure that they have fair rights to our
technology."
Geoworks is dedicated to driving a single, open standard for WAP to accelerate
the worldwide market for mobile devices that can easily and instantly access and
interact with information and services.
(more)
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Geoworks Announces IPR Position on WAP - Page 2
"We have been studying the intellectual property, financial liability, and
licensing issues carefully with an experienced team of advisors for quite some
time," said Don Ezzell, General Counsel of Geoworks Corporation. "Our objective
is to handle technology royalties in the businesslike manner proposed by the WAP
Forum, and we believe our comprehensive licensing program is the right
approach."
Geoworks has already entered licensing discussions with several key WAP Forum
members. The WAP Forum is the industry association that has developed the de
facto world standard for wireless information and telephony services on digital
mobile phones and other wireless terminals. Member companies include Ericsson
Mobile Communications AB, Intel, Microsoft, Motorola Limited, Nokia Mobile
Phones, Phone.com Inc., and QUALCOMM Inc., among 200 other member companies
around the world.
Geoworks has posted on its web site (www.geoworks.com) a white paper entitled
"The Geoworks Wireless Internet Patent: Invention and Innovation in Flexible
User Interface Technology." The white paper details many issues of interest to
WAP Forum members and non-members, including licensing details, legal issues and
technical information.
ABOUT GEOWORKS
Geoworks Corporation (Nasdaq: GWRX) is a leading provider of mobile e-commerce
and information services for the business and consumer markets. The company
offers Internet-based information services, including advertising-sponsored
content, to the growing universe of digital mobile phones and pagers. Based in
Alameda, California, the company has international offices in Sweden, Japan and
the United Kingdom, and can be found on the World Wide Web at
http://www.geoworks.com.
# # #
In keeping with U.S. law, Geoworks notes that this press release includes
independent third-party research and forward-looking statements, including the
emergence of, and Geoworks' participation in, the mobile services market, the
potential size of the market, and technology innovation and licensing issues
relevant to these markets. Actual results may vary significantly due to various
risks and uncertainties. Those include, but are not limited to, the following:
i) the mobile services market may not emerge to the degree or timing
anticipated; and ii) new technologies, licensing programs and new services are
inherently subject to development, timing and consumer acceptance risks.
Additional information is available in the Risk Factors and Business discussions
in the Company's Forms 10- K, 10-Q and other filings available from the Company
or from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
