CARLSBAD, Calif., Feb. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Patriot Scientific
Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: PTSC) today announced that it will issue a
cash dividend of $0.02 per share of common stock for shareholders and
qualified warrant holders of record as of March 6, 2007. The dividend is
payable April 9, 2007.
This dramatic action follows closely on the heels of the company's recent
announcements that two more global manufacturers, NEC Corporation and Funai
Electric, have purchased licenses for the jointly owned Moore Microprocessor
Patent(TM) (MMP) Portfolio. Patriot Scientific and The TPL Group are co-owners
of the MMP Portfolio, which Alliacense, a TPL Group enterprise, exclusively
manages.
"We want our shareholders to participate in our share of the revenues
generated by our jointly owned MMP Patent Portfolio," said David Pohl,
chairman and CEO of Patriot Scientific Corporation. "In furtherance of this
philosophy, our board of directors has now adopted a policy of paying a
dividend every six months, subject each time to a determination by the board
that payment of a dividend would then be reasonable and prudent in light of
the financial condition of the company, other possible applications of the
company's available resources, and relevant business considerations," Pohl
stated.
Patriot Scientific invested millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands
of man-hours over 12 years or more developing and bringing to market products
based upon the company's intellectual property, including IP contained in the
MMP Portfolio. "Patriot's board of directors decided in June 2005 to shift
our primary business model from manufacturing and marketing products to a
model currently focused on licensing our joint venture patent portfolio," said
Pohl. "This dividend payment, which is rare in the arena of microcap
companies, isanother important step evidencing the fact that the board and
management firmly believe in the company's future potential."
He noted that HP, Casio, Fujitsu, Sony, Nikon, Seiko Epson, Pentax,
Olympus, Kenwood, Agilent, Lexmark, Schneider Electric, NEC Corporation and
Funai Electric have purchased MMP Portfolio licenses in the past 13 months.
Intel and AMD are also licensees. The MMP portfolio generated over $108
million in total license fees for the joint venture as a result of licenses
signed in 2006. After allocation for expenses, the distributive share received
by Patriot Scientific from the total license fees was over $48 million.
"We have already embarked upon our plan for the future of Patriot
Scientific by seeking and evaluating opportunities to add to and diversify our
revenue stream by acquiring other companies and technologies, entering into
joint ventures, developing and marketing new proprietary products or
technologies, or a combination of any of those alternatives," Pohl continued,
"always pointed toward the goal of increasing the financial position and
strength of the company and providing value to our shareholders."
A letter issued by Pohl as CEO of Patriot Scientific is being posted
Friday on the company's web site at www.ptsc.com. The letter summarizes
significant developments of 2006 and provides an update on recent events of
interest to shareholders. The company also announced plans to hold an annual
shareholders meeting April 27, 2007, in Carlsbad, California. Details will be
announced soon and proxy materials will be mailed to shareholders.