SCIENCE

NEW YORK, NY -- Columbia University has concluded an exclusive agreement with SIP Communications, Inc. (SIPCOMM) for licensing of its leading-edge Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) communications software developed in Columbia's Internet Real-Time Laboratory under the supervision of Professor Henning Schulzrinne. SIP is a signaling protocol for establishing real-time, interactive communications sessions over IP networks. SIP is a text-based protocol similar to HTTP that enables devices and servers from a variety of manufacturers to exchange information seamlessly. SIP allows for the scalable and extensible implementation of a wide variety of applications including audio, voice, video, TV, chat, instant messaging and whiteboard. Prof. Schulzrinne, associate professor of computer science and electrical engineering at Columbia's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, is the co-author of the SIP protocol and also serves as SIPCOMM's chief scientific advisor. "We have been involved in many new venture companies as a means of introducing Columbia University technologies into commercial activities that will provide important societal value," said Dr. Michael Cleare, executive director of Columbia Science & Technology Ventures (S&TV), formerly known as the Columbia Innovation Enterprise, which manages the University's technology transfer activities. "This new licensing arrangement will make SIP technologies more readily available for the next generation of communication services. It will provide an excellent technical base for SIPCOMM and, we hope, will lead to very significant advances in the telecommunications industry." SIPCOMM was formed in 1999 to commercialize Columbia's SIP technology, pursuant to license and research agreements executed that same year. SIPCOMM is a Columbia S&TV portfolio company. Under prior agreements with Columbia, SIPCOMM has exclusive rights to certain SIP technologies emerging from Prof. Schulzrinne's laboratory. The new agreement enhances that relationship by having SIPCOMM act as the exclusive licensing vehicle for all such SIP related technologies sought by third parties. "Prof. Schulzrinne is one of the leading authorities on SIP and there is considerable demand for the SIP related software developed in his laboratory," said Joseph R. Flicek, president and CEO of SIPCOMM. "This agreement will enable us to offer SIP software tools developed by Prof. Schulzrinne at Columbia, as well as enhanced products developed by SIPCOMM."