CDT Global Patent Undisputed After UNIAX Signs Formal License
and Drops Opposition
Cambridge, England,  - Cambridge Display Technology (CDT), the UK company leading research and commercial development of Light Emitting Polymer (LEP) technology for display applications, today announces a patent and intellectual property agreement with UNIAX Corporation, Santa Barbara, California . UNIAX is developing small emissive display products based on LEP technology for portable, battery powered applications.

Under the terms of the deal, CDT will grant UNIAX access to its global LEP Patents and Intellectual Property. In return, UNIAX will drop its dispute of CDT's patents and pay a royalty fee on all future products. This means that CDT's fundamental patent is now unopposed worldwide.

UNIAX has been actively developing LEP displays since the technology was discovered in Cambridge University in 1990. Following the agreement of a licensing deal with CDT, UNIAX plans to develop commercial screen products for use in mobile phones and similar display markets.

CDT has always maintained that its ground breaking patent, registered worldwide would need to licensed by anyone who intended to commercially develop and market LEPs. This was initially disputed by both Philips Electronics and UNIAX, but both of these challenges have now been resolved.

UNIAX has just completed construction of a $2million clean room and prototype production facility for small - approximately 1 inch by 2 inch - LEP displays. The prototype line is expected to be operational by July 1997 and producing sampling quantities of displays by the end of 1997.

"Settlement of this patent dispute clears the way for UNIAX customers to incorporate our displays into their products without concern regarding CDT's patent position. It also allows UNIAX to focus its undivided attention on completing the product development and manufacturing start-up to satisfy our customers' requirements", said Jim Long, president, UNIAX Corporation.

"We are delighted to have reached license terms with UNIAX Corporation. Together with other recent announcements this shows momentum building behind our technology towards early markets. Our two companies are at the forefront of LEP development and we have a common goal of getting displays based on the technology to market as quickly as possible", said Danny Chapchal, CEO, CDT.

"As a technology licensing company, CDT aims to keep two steps ahead of market developments. We are currently working on prototypes of products with a number of presently undisclosed display companies in the Pacific Rim, that will have a significant impact on high information content flat planet display markets", added Chapchal.

LEP technology is emerging as a strong contender to replace the existing liquid crystal and cathode ray technologies currently existing in the majority of flat panel displays.

LEP technology was invented in Cambridge University by a multi-disciplinary team headed by Richard Friend, now Cavendish Professor of Physics at the University as well as executive research and development director at CDT. The inventors and the University founded CDT to patent, develop and exploit the technology.

After recruiting Danny Chapchal as chief executive officer early in 1996, the company embarked on a course of strategic licensing and development partnerships, announcing in September last year its first deal, a license agreement with Philips Electronics.

LEP Technology:
LEP displays are constructed by applying a thin film of the LEP onto a glass or plastic substrate coated with a transparent indium tin oxide electrode. A metallic electrode is deposited on top of the polymer. Application of an electric field between the two electrodes results in emission of light from the polymer. The technology combines the light emission characteristics of traditional Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) with the patternability of Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) in a technology which promises low manufacturing cost.

Potential benefits of this technology over current technologies such as light emitting diode (LED) and liquid crystal display (LCD) technology are that it will eventually enable licensees to manufacture in a simpler way thinner displays which will operate at lower voltage and will consume less energy.

The initial target for the coming years is to replace the existing backlights for LCDs in applications where space, low voltage and low power consumption are at a premium, such as in mobile telephones. In the next phase displays will be developed for application in consumer products that currently depend on LEDs or LCDs, such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), CD players, electric razors, alarm clocks, radios and, ultimately, television sets.

About UNIAX:
UNIAX was founded in 1990 by Dr. Alan J. Heeger and Dr. Paul Smith, professors at the University of California, Santa Barbara. After successful development and licensing of processing technology for conducting polymers in 1994, the company focused on development of its initial products, LEP displays. The technology is being developed by UNIAX in conjunction with its corporate partners, Philips Electronics, and Hoechst. Following the equity investment by Philips Electronics and Hoechst in February 1996, UNIAX was able to accelerate the development effort, resulting in the demonstration in early 1997 of medium information content emissive displays. In addition to the equity investment, Philips Electronics and Hoechst each have co-development contracts with UNIAX. Close cooperation with potential customers of these small displays has enabled UNIAX to develop products to customer designs, including configurations with operating lifetimes that meet customer specifications. The prototype manufacturing line in Santa Barbara will enable UNIAX to fabricate displays of various sizes and configurations to suit customer demands.