A new SEC filing discovered by The Baltimore Sun has discovered that Apple has signed an exclusive agreement with California based Liquidmetal Technologies for the use of their patents related to new metals and alloys. From the Liquidmetal’s 8-K filing with the SEC:
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 says their alloys have a “amorphous” atomic structure, which differs from the “crystalline” atomic structure found in most metals and alloys. The crystalline structure limits the overall performance of traditional metals. Unique properties created by the amorphous structure include:
- High Yield Strength
- High Hardness
- Superior Strength/Weight Ratio
- Superior Elastic Limit
- High Corrosion Resistance
- High Wear-Resistance
- Unique Acoustical Properties
The Liquidmetal alloy has 2.5 times the strength of titanium and is 1.5 times harder than stainless steel. This would allow for thinner cases on electronic devices such as the iPhone, iPad, iPod or MacBook while still making the device incredibly strong and durable.
