OTTAWA, CANADA--(Marketwire - Jan. 18, 2011) -

THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES, AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN

Wi-LAN Inc. ("WiLAN" or the "Company") (TSX:WIN), a leading technology innovation and licensing company, today announced that it has entered into a bought deal agreement with a syndicate of underwriters led by CIBC World Markets Inc. and including Paradigm Capital Inc., Wellington West Capital Markets Inc., Canaccord Genuity Corp., Fraser Mackenzie Limited and NCP Northland Capital Partners Inc. (collectively, the "Underwriters"), for the issuance of 11,400,000 common shares of the Company ("Common Shares"), on a bought deal basis, at a price of $6.60 per Common Share for gross proceeds of $75,240,000 (the "Offering").

The Underwriters have the option to purchase up to an additional 1,140,000 Common Shares at the issue price at any time prior to 30 days following the closing date for additional gross proceeds of $7,524,000.

The net proceeds from the Offering will be used to fund acquisitions of patent portfolios identified as strategic to the Company's business and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

The Common Shares to be issued under the offering will be offered by way of a short form prospectus in all of the provinces of Canada, other than the province of Quebec, and in the United States on a private placement basis pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

The offering is scheduled to close on or about February 3, 2011 and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange and the securities regulatory authorities.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) absent such registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements.

About WiLAN

WiLAN, founded in 1992, is a leading technology innovation and licensing company. WiLAN has licensed its intellectual property to over 240 companies worldwide. Inventions in our portfolio have been licensed by companies that manufacture or sell a wide range of communication and consumer electronics products including 3G cellular handsets, Wi-Fi-enabled laptops, Wi-Fi/DSL routers, xDSL infrastructure equipment, WiMAX base stations and digital television receivers. WiLAN has a large and growing portfolio of more than 970 issued or pending patents. For more information: www.wilan.com.

Forward-looking Information

Certain statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, may include forward-looking information that involves various risks and uncertainties that face the Company; such statements may contain such words as "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions, and may be based on management's current assumptions and expectations related to all aspects of the wireless and wireline telecommunications industries and the global economy. Risks and uncertainties that may face the Company include, but are not restricted to: licensing of the Company's patents can take an extremely long time and may be subject to variable cycles; the Company is currently reliant on licensees paying royalties under existing licensing agreements and additional licensing of its patent portfolio to generate future revenues and increased cash flows; the Company's revenues may fluctuate based on individual licensees' growth and success rates in their respective markets, the impact of seasonality and other market factors on individual licensees' businesses and other factors outside of the Company's control; the Company's revenues can vary significantly from quarter to quarter depending upon the type of royalty agreement with licensees, the timing of royalty reporting by licensees and fluctuations in foreign currency; the Company may be required to establish the enforceability of its patents in court in order to obtain material licensing revenues;
changes in patent laws or in the interpretation or application of patent laws could materially adversely affect the Company; a court may determine that certain of the Company's patents are not infringed by certain standards or products or may disagree with management with respect to whether one or more of the Company's patents apply to certain standards or products, which could adversely affect the Company; certain of the Company's patents are, and others may be, subject to administrative proceedings that could invalidate or limit the scope of those patents; the Company will need to acquire or develop new patents to continue and grow its business; fluctuations in foreign exchange rates impact and may continue to impact the Company's revenues and operating expenses, potentially adversely affecting financial results; the Company has made and may make acquisitions of technologies or businesses which could materially adversely affect the Company; the Company may require investment to translate its intellectual property position into sustainable profit in the market; the generation of future V-Chip revenues and the likelihood of the Company signing additional V-Chip licenses could be negatively impacted by changes in government regulation; the Company is dependent on its key officers and employees; the price of the Company's common shares is volatile and subject to market fluctuation; and the Company may be negatively affected by reduced consumer spending due to the uncertainty of economic and geopolitical conditions. These risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to differ from information contained in this release, when estimates and assumptions have been used to measure, predict and/or report results. There can be no assurance that any statements of forward-looking information contained in this release will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. These and all subsequent written and oral statements containing forward-looking information are based on the estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Except as required by applicable laws, the Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any statements of forward-looking information that speak only as of the date of this release. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's business are contained under the heading "Risk Factors" in WiLAN's current Annual Information Form and its other filings with the various Canadian securities regulators which are available online at www.sedar.com.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States.

All trademarks and brands mentioned in this release are the property of their respective owners.