Hitachi pays for Elonex patents

Licensing Deal gives negotiating power to direct manufacturer and adds weight to its technology developments.

Elonex has licensed its power management technology to Hitachi Japands weight to its technology developments. in a deal that will bring in royalties from sales of millions of computers, monitors and printers.

Hitachi has licensed Elonex's worldwide patent portfolio, covering power management technology, which sends PCs, printers, PDAs and monitors to sleep when not in use.

Hitachi will also become Elonex's agent in granting further licences to the Japanese computer, monitor and printer companies that supply many PC vendors on an OEM basis. The deal strengthens Elonex's negotiating position with other PC and peripheral vendors as energy efficiency and conservation become increasingly important to PC buyers.

Government agencies and independent organisations worldwide are involved in reducing power consumption in office equipment. Desktop computers are one of the primary targets for this effort, with displays and printers consuming a significant portion of the power used in such systems.

The Hitachi agreement is the second time Elonex patents have been recognised.

In the US, Hewlett Packard became the first global PC maker to take out a licence, covering power management technology in its own PC displays. The Hitachi deal added weight to Elonex's view that its patents will have to be licensed - or disputed - by most industry hardware vendors.

Michael Spiro, Elonex's commercial director, said: 'It is never easy for European firms to share their intellectual property successfully with the overseas companies that are so important in the PC industry.'