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16 July 2001
Sportech Appoints QED to Manage Licensing of Patent Portfolio
Sportech plc announces that it has signed an agreement with QED, the Patent
Licensing arm of technology development and licensing company, Scipher plc. QED
will manage the portfolio of 20 US and European patents belonging to the Rodime
Technologies division of Sportech.
QED, will progress the commercial licensing opportunities of Sportech's intellectual
property, which principally covers disk drive and storage access technologies.
The patents, which were built up when the Company's core business was as a manufacturer
of disc drives, all date from the period preceding Sportech's acquisition of Littlewoods
Leisure in September 2000 and its move into the betting and gaming market.
Colin McGill, Managing Director, Sportech plc, said: "We are determined
to secure maximum value for our shareholders from the existing patent portfolio.
This partnership not only sees us reduce the day-to-day costs of managing the
portfolio, but extends our expertise in seeking commercial opportunities for our
intellectual properties. With Scipher's impressive record of IP management, built
up over more than two generations, I am confident that this partnership will enable
us to exploit the full potential of Sportech's patent portfolio."
Dr Ken Gray, Chairman, Scipher plc, said: "Leading companies are finding
that substantial financial value can be extracted from licensing their patents.
Scipher has extensive experience and a strong reputation in creating such licensing
revenue for its clients, and we are delighted to be assisting Sportech to help
them deliver their IP exploitation strategy."
About Sportech
Sportech plc (formerly Rodime plc) is the holding company for Littlewoods Leisure,
the UK betting and gaming company, acquired in a reverse take-over completed in
September 2000.
Following the acquisition, the rights relating to disk drive technology belonging
to Rodime were allocated to a new division called Rodime Technologies.
Sportech is now focused on its core business of developing the Littlewoods
gaming and leisure business, utilising new channels of distribution to bring more
games to more players and capitalising on the strength of the Littlewoods brand,
namely its association with the values of trust and integrity. The Company has
a regular playing customer base covering 1.6 million households.
For more information about Sportech, please visit our website at
www.sportech-plc.co.uk
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