Wi-LAN president and CEO Jim Skippen. (Darren Brown, OBJ)

Wi-LAN Inc. has bagged another wireless licensing deal, this time with California's Zonet USA Corp.

The Ottawa-based patent licensing firm said Zonet, a designer and manufacturer of computer peripherals for the network and connectivity industry, has signed a six-year licensing agreement for Wi-LAN's Wi-Fi patents.

The deal provides for the payment of a running royalty and includes a payment in respect of past sales, Wi-LAN said.

"Zonet is the latest of many companies that have negotiated licence agreements for our essential technology," said Wi-LAN chief executive Jim Skippen in a statement. "In just 20 months our licensing program has secured 45 licence agreements. In my view this performance is an order of magnitude better than what I view as industry comparables."

Mr. Skippen added that the company is "continuing active discussions" about licensing deals with more than 40 companies, and that it expects to wrap up several agreements in the near future.

"Every agreement, whether it is modest, medium or large in value is critically important to Wi-LAN as it builds our recurring revenue and reinforces the value of our intellectual property," he said.

Wi-LAN has a portfolio of more than 290 issued or pending patents.