New Patents Strengthen Avistar's Lead in Technology and Intellectual Property for Unified Communications

January 15, 2008: 05:32 PM EST


SAN MATEO, Calif., Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Avistar Communications Corporation has received notification from the US Patent and Trademark Office of 7 new patent allowances, which will recognize and protect broad claims in areas of real-time communications over the wide area networks that are fundamental to unified communications (UC). The patents specifically relate to technology for video communications, voice over Internet protocol and instant messaging. Wainhouse Research predicts that the UC industry will reach $16.5 billion by 2012. Avistar plans to license its technology and intellectual property (IP) to other vendors in order to accelerate growth, allow rapid development of industry standards, and foster the development of new applications.

The 7 allowed patents in the United States will add to 5 recent patent additions in Europe. Avistar's IP portfolio has been a key driver in the company's growth, and has been successfully licensed to technology companies, including Tandberg, Polycom, Sony and Radvision for use in their products. Partnerships with other vendors, including IBM through its Lotus Sametime product, have brought Avistar into Fortune 500 companies to facilitate enterprise desktop videoconferencing as part of UC.

"Through these patents, Avistar is being recognized for its contribution to the mechanics that underpin many key aspects of unified communications. The new patents will give us even greater coverage of the intellectual property relevant to the UC market," said Simon Moss, CEO of Avistar. "The successes of our scientists and developers have given Avistar a powerful ability to deliver enterprise-wide desktop video as part of UC, and have put our business in a strong position to capitalize on the burgeoning demand for unified communications."

Robert Habig, Avistar's CFO, added, "Avistar has had consistent annual growth rates in revenue and income from our licensing activities exceeding 40% since 2004 -- in no small measure due to our valuable patent portfolio. Deploying our IP for competitive advantage through our own products, and sharing our technology with others through licensing and partnering arrangements, is core to our business strategy."

Forward Looking Statements

Statements made in this news release that are not purely historical, including but not limited to statements regarding expected growth in the unified communications or UC industry, Avistar's plans to license its technology, Avistar's ability to capitalize on growth in the UC industry and the benefit to Avistar of the additional patents, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including such factors, among others, as difficulties and challenges associated with protecting intellectual property, the time and expense associated with enforcing or defending intellectual property rights, volatility in Avistar's sales and licensing activities, market acceptance of Avistar's products and increased competition in the market for unified communications. As a result of these and other factors, Avistar expects to experience significant fluctuations in its licensing activities and operating results, and there can be no assurance that Avistar's future results will meet expectations. These and other risk factors are discussed in Avistar's Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. Avistar disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

About Avistar Communications Corporation

Avistar is working to define the future of unified communications and collaboration by inventing and delivering integrated visual communications software that helps companies of all sizes improve business results. From the desktop, from the laptop and from conference rooms, Avistar delivers enterprise-quality and easy-to-use audio/video conferencing, multi-party videoconferencing, and integrated data sharing anywhere in the world. By integrating visual communications with enterprise application software, Avistar incorporates communications into the daily workflow and seamlessly connects communities of users within and across enterprises.

Founded in 1993, Avistar is headquartered in San Mateo, California, with offices in New York and London. With more than 15,000 seats sold across 40 countries, Avistar's global deployments of its unified visual communications desktop software are among the largest in the world. Avistar holds a portfolio of 76 patents for inventions in the primary areas of video and network technology and offers technology and IP licenses to companies in video conferencing, rich-media services, public networking and related industries. Current licensees include Sony Corporation, Polycom, Inc., Tandberg ASA, Radvision Ltd. and Emblaze-VCON.

For more information, visit www.avistar.com.