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Technology Stocks : Hide & Seek - The Copy Protection Solution -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Enam Luf who wrote (593)	8/13/1998 11:03:00 PM
From: Enam Luf	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 690

this post will self destruct in 5 minutes ..hehe

To: Enam Luf who wrote (593)	8/14/1998 8:59:00 AM
From: Chloe R	Respond to of 690

Enam, >>>how much financing are they anticipating the need for in order to commercial their product?<<< They only need $500,000 to really rock 'n' roll of the mastered defect version. This is mostly marketing/demo costs not development. The oxidative chemical version is pretty simple but I don't know about dollars needed to bring it to fruition. The laser-activated version of the polymer is about $2 to $3 million and 18 months away till full rollout. Bayer conducted their own independent study and partnered with HST on the development (the fact that such a reputable company believes in it and is committing resources to help develop it is very reassuring). Whatever remaining development costs are hoped to be covered by cash flow from operations, sales of the initial product. However, as we all know, they might have to go to the markets again for any shortfall. But at least it will hopefully be at a far greater valuation at that time such that any dilution is minimal. >>>Do they own the patent for the darkening polymer? ...or just its implemention in this industry?<<< The polymers that are being used have been around for years. Bayer is tweaking the chemical mix such that it reacts to the light frequency of the laser but is unaffected by ambient light. This is apparently a fine balance and Bayer is about to submit 20 chemical combinations to HST for further analysis. The patent is broad and protective - it covers the application of polymers on optical discs. I imagine that additional patents will be filed on the specific chemical structure once it has been finalized. >>>Can they be used by other companies to develop competing solutions without infringing on the patent?<<< IMHO, No. This is too radical a departure from current thinking regarding copy protection and expiring discs for any company to claim they have something different. >>>The reason i ask is that if they own the rights to this type of technology outright, then it gives you, IMO, a lot of downside protection as the worst case would probably be to see them taken out by a bigger player... in either this industry, or another high tech field..<<< They can't patent light reactive polymers in general. They have been used in the photographic industry for years (and on eyeglasses that change to sunglasses when exposed to the necessary light frequencies). However, they can patent it for specific uses unthought of before. And can patent the specific chemical makeup of the polymer in those applications. Clo