2006-01-24 07:59:01
Patriot Scientific Announces Major Patent Licensing Agreement with Hewlett-Packard
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Business Editors / High-Tech Writers
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 24, 2006--
HP Joins Intel and AMD as Early Licensees of MMP Portfolio, Validating
Need for System Manufacturers to License Fundamental Microprocessor
Design Patents
Patriot Scientific Corporation (OTCBB: PTSC.OB) today announced
that Hewlett-Packard (HP) has become the first system manufacturer to
purchase a license to use intellectual property protected by the Moore
Microprocessor Patent(TM) (MMP) Portfolio. Patriot is a co-owner of
the MMP Portfolio as a result of an agreement reached between Patriot
and The TPL Group in June 2005. The portfolio is being exclusively
managed by Alliacense, a TPL Group enterprise.
Following the previous purchases of MMP Portfolio licenses by
marquee chip makers Intel and AMD in 2005, the MMP Portfolio Licensing
Program has been tuned to also serve leading manufacturers of
computer, communications and entertainment systems. Specific terms of
the license purchased by HP were not disclosed.
"This is a highly significant milestone for Patriot Scientific,"
said Patriot Chairman and CEO David Pohl. "This new license agreement
with HP helps to confirm the significance of the patents in our
valuable jointly owned portfolio. It is a major step in demonstrating
to our shareholders that the decision of Patriot's Board of Directors
and new management to proceed with the PTSC/TPL alliance was a prudent
business decision," Pohl added. "We are pleased that our faith in the
professionalism and abilities of the Alliacense licensing team was
well placed, and we know that discussions are well under way with
dozens of other major system manufacturers around the world."
"Today's consumer electronics and computer systems each
incorporate an increasing number of microprocessors that exploit the
techniques protected by the MMP Portfolio," stated Mac Leckrone,
Alliacense president. "We are very pleased to witness a globally
respected system manufacturer confirm our MMP Portfolio Licensing
Program strategy. We have believed from the outset that the most
attractive path for equipment makers was to purchase a single MMP
System License that covers an entire system or end-user product."
Last October, The TPL Group, in the process of managing and
prosecuting the patent portfolio jointly owned with Patriot
Scientific, filed a broad-based intellectual property claim against
four major Japanese electronics system manufacturers in the US
District Court, Eastern District of Texas. The broad-based claim cited
Fujitsu, Matsushita, NEC and Toshiba for direct infringement,
contributory infringement, and inducing the infringement of at least
three of the ten patents in the Moore Microprocessor Patent(TM) (MMP)
Portfolio, specifically:
-- 4 U.S. 5,784,584: Multiple Instruction Fetch
-- 4 U.S. 5,809,336: Clocking CPU and I/O Separately
-- 4 U.S. 6,598,148: Use of Multiple Cores and Embedded Memory
The cited infringement pertains to a wide variety of end-user
products including personal computers, servers, workstations,
printers, routers, home theater systems, digital TVs, video game
players, DVD Recorders/Players, mobile handsets, portable media
players, automotive and aircraft/aerospace electronics, and most other
modern microprocessor-based products. The MMP Portfolio, which
encompasses US, European and Japanese patents, is protected through
the year 2015. Global sales of end products deploying chips using
technologies protected by these jointly held patents are estimated to
be greater than $200 billion annually.
About Patriot Scientific
Patriot Scientific (OTCBB: PTSC.OB) has emerged as an effective
and dynamic intellectual property company, developing and marketing
innovative and proprietary semiconductor technologies. The Company's
portfolio of proprietary designs encompasses what is believed to be
fundamental ultra-low-power array microprocessor technology, as well
as pending patents designed to protect Patriot's proprietary
technology.
Detailed information about Patriot Scientific can be found on the
website
www.ptsc.com. Copies of Patriot Scientific press releases,
current price quotes, stock charts and other valuable information for
investors may be found at
www.hawkassociates.com and
www.americanmicrocaps.com. An investment profile on Patriot Scientific
may be found at
http://www.hawkassociates.com/patriot/profile.htm
