CUPERTINO, Calif. – March 9, 2007 – Alliacense today announced that the world’s largest supplier of flash storage card products has purchased a Moore Microprocessor Patent™ (MMP) Portfolio license from The TPL Group. SanDisk Corporation becomes the third major manufacturer to purchase an MMP Portfolio license this year following in the footsteps of a dozen other global manufacturers who purchased licenses over the course of last year.
“More and more manufacturers are recognizing the value and competitive edge that can be realized by becoming early movers in our formative MMP Portfolio Licensing Program,” said Mike Davis, Alliacense Senior VP of Licensing. “By design, our MMP Licensing Program rewards early movers in specific industry segments by subjecting subsequent licensees in those same segments to progressively higher royalty rates.”
According toDavis, the strong momentum of the MMP Portfolio Licensing Program validates the substantial investments and risks shouldered by inventor Chuck Moore and The TPL Group over nearly two decades. “The MMP Portfolio Licensing Program clearly demonstrates how investing in the development, protection and commercialization of IP provides a platform for enabling subsequent generations of innovation.”
The intellectual property assets protected by the MMP Portfolio encompass fundamental design techniques that enable higher performance and lower cost digital electronic systems ranging from cell phones and portable music players to communications infrastructure and medical equipment as well as automobiles, which today utilize dozens of microprocessors.
The far-reaching applications of MMP design techniques have prompted global manufacturers, many of which rank among the Fortune 500, to become MMP Portfolio licensees. Since January 2006, HP, Casio, Fujitsu, Sony, Nikon, Seiko Epson, Pentax, Olympus, Kenwood, Agilent, Lexmark, Schneider Electric, NEC Corporation and Funai Electric have all purchased MMP Portfolio licenses.
About the MMP Portfolio
Named after legendary inventor Charles “Chuck” Moore, the MMP Portfolio includes sevenUSpatents as well as their European and Japanese counterparts fundamental to the design of modern microprocessors, microcontrollers and system-on-chip devices. With origins that date back to 1980s collaboration between Moore and The TPL Group, the MMP Portfolio today is jointly owned by privately held The TPL Group and publicly held Patriot Scientific Corporation (PTSC.OB).
About SanDisk
SanDisk is the original inventor of flash storage cards and is the world’s largest supplier of flash data storage card products using its patented, high-density flash memory and controller technology. SanDisk is headquartered in Milpitas, CA and has operations worldwide with more than half its sales outside the U.S. For additional information, visit www.sandisk.com.
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 IP assets as well as the design, manufacture and sales of proprietary products based on these same 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.