Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Crossroads Systems Sells Off Product Business, Goes All In On Patent Strategy

Austin-based Crossroads Systems is going all-in on its patent litigation strategy, saying Tuesday that it is selling off all of its products business and plans to sell all of its patents except it core '972 patent, in an effort to reduce cash burn. The company said it will focus its efforts on "vigorously defending our intellectual property" and identifying additional IP monetization possibilities. Crossroads said it sold all of its product business and related assets to StrongBox Data Solutions, with 27 of its employees joining StrongBox as part of the deal. In addition, CrossRoads said it has signed a deal with AQUA Licensing, to market and sell its non '972 patent portfolio, which includes 138 patents and pending patents. Crossroads Systems has been expending a significant amount of its energy on patent litigation and licensing efforts over the last few years, but had continued to operate a products business in the storage networking hardware market.