FAIRFIELD, Conn., Sept. 29, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Competitive Technologies, Inc. (AMEX:CTT) announced today that it has signed separate one-time fee agreements with Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK), Roche Holdings AG B (Other OTC:RHHBY) and Toshiba Corporation (Other OTC: TOSBF) for each company's use of CTT technologies.
Toshiba has agreed to pay CTT a fee for any products they previously created from the patented method for producing an integrated semiconductor light emitter. The inventor of this technology, Nick Holonyak, Jr., is the John Bardeen Chair and Professor at the Center for Advanced Study, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world's largest technical society, presented Dr. Holonyak with the 2003 IEEE Medal of Honor. An IEEE Life Fellow, he received the medal for his career of pioneering contributions to the field of semiconductors, specifically in the areas of semiconductor alloys, heterojunctions, visible light-emitting diodes and injection lasers.
Both Merck and Roche are using the Rhodamine Derivatives patented technology in on-going research. Each company has agreed to pay CTT a fee for the license rights to this technology during the patent period. The technology is the result of work done by Walter Mangel, Stephen Leytus, and Lee Melhado while at CTT's client, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
"A recent BusinessWeek article highlighted the strategy of Merck and other leading R&D firms of increasing their focus on licensing technology of others," said John B. Nano, CTT's President and CEO. "CTT recognizes that in today's fast moving technology cycle outsourcing is commonplace to gain competitive advantage, creating licensing opportunities for our business."
Mr. Nano continued, "These three companies affirmed the importance of patent law rights and CTT's license and commercialization agreements with its clients. CTT will continue to maximize the value of its existing portfolio of technologies such as homocysteine assays, where revenues are 250% above prior year. We are also actively marketing and commercializing recently acquired technologies including bone biomaterial, wound sealant, LucentSpeech, silicon carbide wafer testing, pollution abatement, and automotive safety sensors."
About Competitive Technologies, Inc.
Competitive Technologies, established in 1968, is a full service technology transfer and licensing provider focused on the technology needs of its customers and transforming those requirements into commercially viable solutions. CTT is a global leader in identifying, developing and commercializing innovative technologies in life, digital, nano, and physical sciences developed by universities, companies and inventors. The global market for technology transfer services is estimated at $150 billion annually. CTT maximizes the value of intellectual assets for the benefit of its customers, clients and shareholders. Visit CTT's website: http://www.competitivetech.net
Statements about the Company's future expectations, including development and regulatory plans, and all other statements in this document other than historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Federal Securities Laws and are not guarantees of future performance. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, including those set forth in Item 1 of the Company's most recent Form 10-K and in CTT's other filings with the SEC, and are subject to change at any time. The Company's actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement.