The Casio agreement appears to have piqued investor interest because it`s the second such agreement, said Pattric J. Rawlins, an intellectual property attorney in the San Diego office of Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP. Rawlins said he owns ``a little bit of stock in Patriot.``

Often, the first agreement on a license is made at a discounted rate, Rawlins said. ``When other big players start lining up ... the industry takes notice.``

Rawlins agreed with Patriot that the company`s patent claims are far-reaching, covering ``the basic building blocks of digital processors.``

``Very few patents have ever really dominated an industry,`` Rawlins cautioned. But if Patriot`s claims are accepted, the company would have a powerful position in microprocessors, he said.

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