CUPERTINO, Calif. – Feb. 28, 2008 – Alliacense today announced that Citizen Holdings Co., Ltd. has purchased a Moore Microprocessor Patent™ (MMP) Portfolio license from The TPL Group. With its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, Citizen manufactures and sells a broad range of industry-leading products including watches and industrial machinery, as well as information and electronic equipment.
“Citizen is our third MMP Portfolio licensee in just the past week, and we are excited by the momentum,” said Joe Minville, Vice President, Licensing for Alliacense. “Through this agreement Citizen has resolved a significant financial exposure as well as removed the possibility of supply chain disruptions for itself and its customers.”
The sweeping scope of applications using MMP Portfolio design techniques continues to encourage the world’s leading manufacturers of end user products from around the globe to become MMP Portfolio licensees. Over 40 global companies from the US, Europe, Japan, Korea and Taiwan have licensed the MMP Portfolio technologies, including many industry leaders such as Fujitsu, Hewlett Packard, Kenwood, Mattel, Nokia, Philips, Sony and Toshiba.
The MMP Portfolio patents, filed by The TPL Group in the 1980s, cover techniques that enable higher performance and lower cost designs, and are fundamental to consumer and commercial digital systems ranging from DVD players, cell phones and portable music players to communications infrastructure, medical equipment — and automobiles which today have dozens of microprocessor-based key features and benefits.
About the MMP Portfolio
The Moore Microprocessor Patent Portfolio contains intellectual property that is jointly owned by the privately-held TPL Group and publicly-held Patriot Scientific Corporation (OTCBB: PTSC). The MMP Portfolio includes seven U.S. patents as well as their European and Japanese counterparts. It is widely recognized that the MMP Portfolio protects fundamental technology used in microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), embedded processors and system-on-chip (SoC) devices. Manufacturers of microprocessor-based products can learn more about how to participate in the MMP Portfolio Licensing Program by contacting: mmp-licensing@alliacense.com.
About Citizen Holdings Co., Ltd.
Citizen Holdings Co., Ltd., formerly Citizen Watch Co., Ltd., is a Japan-based company that manufactures and sells a variety of products across several business segments. Citizen’s Watch products include analog and digital watches, wristwatch interior and exterior components, and clocks. The company’s Electronic Device business unit provides liquid crystal display (LCD) devices, electronic viewfinders and other products. Products from the Electronic Machinery business unit include printers, electronic thermometers, and calculators. The Industrial Machinery segment provides automatic lathes, robots, machine tools, and measuring equipment. For more information, visit www.citizen.co.jp.
About Alliacense
Alliacense is a TPL Group Enterprise executing best-in-class design and implementation of Intellectual Property (IP) licensing programs. As a cadre of IP licensing strategists, technology experts, and experienced business development/management executives, Alliacense focuses on expanding the awareness and value of TPL’s IP portfolios. Founded in 1988, The TPL Group has emerged as a coalition of high technology enterprises involved in the development, management and commercialization of proprietary product technologies as well as the design, manufacture and sales of proprietary products based on those technologies and corresponding IP assets. For more information, visit www.alliacense.com.
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Alliacense and Moore Microprocessor Patent (MMP) are trademarks of Technology Properties Limited (TPL). All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.