Acacia Appoints Matthew Vella To Succeed Paul Ryan As CEO

(RTTNews) - Patent licensing business firm Acacia Research Corp. (ACTG) Friday announced the appointment of its current President Matthew Vella as chief executive officer and a director effective August 1, 2013, to succeed Paul Ryan, who will resign from the posts on July 31, 2013.

The company noted that Vella will continue to serve as president of Acacia. Newport Beach, California-based Acacia develops, licenses, and enforces patented technologies in the U.S.

Vella joined Acacia in November 2006 as the firm's vice president and was appointed senior vice president in October 2007. He became Executive Vice President in October 2011 and President in September 2012.

Prior to joining Acacia, Vella was senior intellectual property counsel for ATI Research Inc., Lead Patent License Counsel for Nortel Networks Inc., and counsel for Nortel Networks Corp.

Ryan announced his intention to retire and Executive Chairman Chip Harris stated that the company started working on the succession plan over 18 months ago.

Separately, Acacia said its unit Brandywine Communications Technologies LLC has entered into a settlement agreement with Grandstream Networks, Inc., which resolves patent litigation that was pending in the U.S District Court for the District of Delaware. ACTG closed Thursday's regular trading at $23.14 on the Nasdaq.