Materials Testing Patent Awarded To Combimatrix and NDC - New Technology

Acacia Research Corporation announced today that its CombiMatrix group's joint product development partner, Nanomaterials Discovery Corporation (NDC), has been granted U.S. Patent No. 6,683,446, entitled "Electrode array for development and testing of materials," ("the '446 patent"). CombiMatrix and NDC will share revenues on sales of new materials and tools under a Joint Product Development and License Agreement.

"The development of new nanostructured materials for commercial applications has traditionally been a cumbersome process," said Dr. Don Montgomery, President and CEO of NDC. "Electrochemistry offers the most comprehensive, reproducible and well-vetted approach to developing new nanostructured materials. The methods disclosed in the '446 patent allow us to accelerate the pace of discovery of new nanomaterials by a factor of over a thousand when compared to traditional approaches."

"We are encouraged by the issuance of this patent and we look forward to a productive relationship under our collaboration," said Dr. Amit Kumar, President and CEO of CombiMatrix. "We expect the new nanotechnology initiatives sponsored by the Federal Government will help emerging nanotech companies develop innovative technology and new products."

NDC has a long-standing research partnership with the University of Wyoming that has focused on using electrode arrays to search for new catalysts for fuel cells, new cathode materials for rechargeable lithium batteries, and new phosphors for flat panel displays.

Posted 11^th February 2004