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The attached ECC PLA is a free license to twenty-six patents, patent applications, and the corresponding foreign rights. NSA purchased this license from Certicom Corporation. To gain a signed PLA, a company's product must meet a restricted field of use, which requires that a product must:

1. Use elliptic curves with a prime modulus p where p is greater than 2^255.
2. Be a product for national security compliant with FIPS-140-2 or its successors.

1. Use elliptic curves with a prime modulus p where p is greater than 2^255.
2. Be an NSA approved product.

A company can sell any product meeting the field of use. Certain export laws do apply, though, as highlighted in the PLA. Also, a non-U.S. company may sign an ECC PLA agreement with NSA; however, such a company must contact NSA's Information Assurance Directorate (IAD) through the organization in the non-U.S. company's government that is authorized to handle Information Assurance (IA) matters.

To receive a draft copy of the PLA, a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document, and to make any additional inquiries, please contact the NSA/CSS Commercial Solutions Center (NCSC) by email (IST@nsa.gov), phone (240-373-4163).

View a Sample Patent License Agreement