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Embedded: IP licensing firm on the prowl for new ideas

Control Engineering -- December 10, 2007

Santa Barbara, CA — Jim Turley, president and CEO of Patriot Scientific (PTSC) in Carlsbad, CA, says his company is looking for significant embedded systems or microprocessor technology in which to invest. “Our company developed significant intellectual property, which it began licensing to a number of major microprocessor and other embedded-system companies during the 1990s,” he says, “We now have income in the tens of millions of dollars per year to invest in new businesses and technology.”

We should all have such problems!

Actually, it can be a problem for the future. While the company generates great cash flow for a firm with just five employees, international intellectual property laws put them under Damocles’ sword. Patents are issued for 20 years from the filing date, which means PTSC’s current patents expire in less that 10 years.

“We could invest in creating our own R&D infrastructure,” Turley points out, “but it makes more sense to acquire a small, underfunded company with some really good ideas. We can offer them R&D funding and an important place in a public company.”

Turley says that the kind of technology they are looking for is groundbreaking hardware and/or software concepts in the embedded systems and microprocessor space. “We’re looking for something I can understand,” he quips.

Patriot Scientific is an IP licensing company that develops, markets, and enables innovative proprietary technologies. The company’s core IP encompasses fundamental microprocessor design technology for applications such as wireless devices, smart cards, home appliances and gateways, set-top boxes, entertainment technology, automotive telematics, biomedical devices, industrial controllers, aerospace, and others.

The company says they believe that the core microprocessor technology in its patent portfolio appear in virtually every microprocessor manufactured since 1995, and are included in products manufactured and marketed by companies globally.

Control Engineering offers other articles related to intellectual property and technology.

—C.G. Masi, senior editor
Control Engineering News Desk