Monday December 7, 11:56 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Competitive Technologies, Inc.
Competitive Technologies, Inc. Announces Sony Corporation Of America Investment in NTRU Cryptosystems, Inc.
* Collaboration Also Calls for Non-Exclusive Licensing Agreement With Sony *
- New Technology Ensures Highest Possible 'Disposable Key' Digital and Internet Security - - Taps Global E-Commerce and Internet Security Market Projected to Hit $7 Billion - - Opens New Markets by Addressing Memory and Speed Issues -
FAIRFIELD, Conn., Dec. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Competitive Technologies, Inc. (Amex: CTT - news), a global leader in the licensing and commercialization of new technologies, announced today that Sony Corporation of America has invested in its client, NTRU Cryptosystems, Inc. (NTRU) of Providence, RI. Sony America is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Japanese electronics and entertainment company Sony Corporation (ADR NYSE: SNE). The new collaboration also calls for a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Sony Corporation of NTRU's new encryption and authentication technology, the terms of which were not disclosed. As part of its specialized services, CTT helped transform the original NTRU encryption and authentication concept from scientific white paper to market-ready technology, and then orchestrated the investment and licensing arrangement.
Encryption and authentication software enables digital transactions of all kinds to be more secure, and is developing into a crucial, 21st century market. As more and more commerce, communication and sensitive information flows across digital networks throughout the world, security is becoming increasingly critical. According to a recent study by Data Monitor, the worldwide Internet security market alone will hit $7 billion by the year 2001.
''We're pleased to be associated with NTRU,'' said Mr. Hiro Uchida, Sony's General Manager of Technology Planning, ''and value their work in the area of encryption and authentication techniques. With the rapid emergence of the digital era, Sony considers NTRU's encryption technology as one of various technologies that will play a key role in the future.''
NTRU's encryption software is based on a unique and highly sophisticated mathematical system that simplifies and speeds the creation of encryption ''keys'' which are necessary for all types of secure digital transactions. Because NTRU's mathematics significantly reduces the memory requirements that current encryption systems use, it can generate new, ''disposable'' keys in real-time for each and every secure transaction. This not only further increases security, but also means that the NTRU approach can be applied to increasingly popular Internet telephony, video and audio streaming techniques. These opportunities in turn open entirely new encryption and authentication markets.
''We are extremely excited about this agreement,'' said Competitive Technologies' President Frank McPike. ''This is a unique and powerful technology that can change the landscape of digital security. In a world where more and more sensitive information changes hands digitally, any product that can protect the integrity and security of that information is going to be crucial. Especially when it does it as well as NTRU does.''
The NTRU approach delivers significant advantages for Internet applications and electronic devices that use ''real-time'' technology like Internet telephony, and video and audio streaming. Mobile phones, smart cards and personal digital assistants (PDAs), devices that use ''embedded'' chip sets also benefit from NTRU. Neither Internet streaming techniques nor mobile electronic devices have the bandwidth to use current, memory intensive encryption techniques. NTRU's encryption approach, on the other hand, makes it much easier to quickly bring excellent security to these systems, many of which couldn't support encryption and authentication at all prior to this.
Dr. Jeffrey Hoffstein, President of NTRU, added, ''Early in our corporate history we recognized the need for a business partner so we formed a strategic partnership with CTT in 1997. We needed someone who could exclusively manage all of our commercialization and licensing issues. CTT brought a broad range of business, management, incubation, marketing and legal expertise to NTRU. And, of course, they have delivered the global network of relationships that is enabling us to go to the next level.''
CTT worked closely with NTRU Cryptosystems to transform its highly complex paper concept into proven and usable technology. ''When we first looked at the original NTRU concept, we could immediately see its potential,'' says CTT Senior Vice-President Dr. Peter Holden. ''But simply understanding the math wasn't enough. We also had to help NTRU transform what was then an abstract concept into a viable technology with excellent commercial prospects.'' CTT invested in patenting the NTRU process, clarified its potential in the market and then worked to bring it to the attention of Sony which ultimately culminated in the investment and non-exclusive licensing deal. Holden adds further ''We view the Sony investment as the first step in CTT establishing a broader relationship with NTRU. In addition, we continue to work closely with Dr. Hoffstein and NTRU to establish additional strategic tools and application partnerships to help bring the NTRU encryption technology to market.''
Competitive Technologies, Inc. is based in Fairfield, Connecticut, with affiliates in Osaka, Japan and London, England. The company is in the technology transfer business concentrating primarily on the commercialization and licensing of company and university research and technology. CTT has evaluated more than 25,000 technologies and has been responsible for closing hundreds of license agreements. For any additional information on CTT's digital technology practice, please contact Senior Vice President Dr. Peter Holden by phone at 203-255-6044 or fax at 203-254-1102.
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 related to the market acceptance of and competition for the Company's licensed technologies and other risks and uncertainties inherent in CTT's business, including those set forth in Item I of the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended July 31, 1998 and other factors that may be described in CTT's 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.
NTRU Cryptosystems is a start-up company located in Providence, Rhode Island. For more information on the company and its technologies please visit its website at www.ntru.com.
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