SUFFERN, NEW YORK, April 18, 2000 - Acticon Technologies, a division of General Patent Corporation (GPC), an intellectual property management company, has entered into non-exclusive licensing agreements with In-System Design, Inc., Boise, ID, and Infowave Software, Inc., Burnaby, Canada, vendors of USB smart cables. The licenses cover two GPC patents protecting smart connectors and cables and other communications devices.
"The Acticon proprietary smart connector technology and the patents that protect it continue to be of significant value to domestic and international companies involved in connectivity and communications," said Dr. Alexander Poltorak, GPC's chairman and CEO.
Acticon's award-winning smart connector technology is based on U.S. Patent Nos. 4,603,320 ("Connector Interface") and 4,972,470 ("Programmable Connector").
"USB smart cables and connectors allow users of USB-enabled computers to connect to a parallel devise such as a printer. The electronics embedded in the connector on the printer cable convert parallel signal into the USB format and vice versa, making the USB computer and parallel printer compatible, hence the name 'smart' connectors or cables," said Steven Farago, Ph.D., the original inventor of the smart-connector technology and Acticon's chief technologist.
"The Acticon Connector Interface and Programmable Connector patents supplement In-System's proprietary Universal Serial Bus to parallel bus signal converter technology covered by U.S. Patent No. 6,040,792," said Lynn Watson, President of In-System Design, Inc. General Patent Corporation is an intellectual property (IP) management firm based in Suffern, New York.