Software Patent Institute Becomes Independent Corporation
SPA Provides $300,000 in Support

September 7, 1994 (Washington, DC) - The Software Patent Institute (SPI)
announced today that it has become an independent non-profit corporation.
"Being independent will allow SPI to redouble and focus its efforts on
building its on-line database of software technologies and its courses for
patent examiners and others," says Bernard A. Galler, chair of the Board
of Trustees of the new corporation. "After two and one-half years of being
a project at the Industrial Technology Institute in Ann Arbor, Michigan,
we are ready to move to the next stage of making our efforts available to
the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), patent professionals,
the software industry, and the general public. "

The Software Publishers Association also announced that it is providing a
$300,000 cash donation to the Software Patent Institute to support its
work in building the on-line database. "Over the past two years, we have
been impressed with the work of the Software Patent Institute. SPI is
building a unique database of software prior art that will be searchable
on-line," said SPA Executive Director

Ken Wasch. "As patents become a more important component of the
intellectual property landscape for software, the SPI's prior art database
will be crucial in helping the Patent and Trademark Office to determine
which software inventions deserve patent protection."

Founded in 1992 as a non-profit effort to assist the USPTO and others meet
the complex challenges surrounding software-related patents, SPI provides
technical support through education and training programs and offers
access to software prior art through its on-line database. Members of SPI
include Apple Computer, Inc., IBM Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, the
Software Publishers Association, Adobe Systems, Novell and the University
of Michigan. SPI also receives support from a number of other
software-related companies and national law firms. "We are pleased that a
number of the key organizations involved in the controversies surrounding
software and intellectual property have recognized the value of what we
are doing," said Executive Director Roland Cole.

For further information on the SPI on-line database of software
technologies and other SPI services, submission of database items, or
membership, please contact Roland J. Cole at 2901 Hubbard, Ann Arbor,
Michigan 48105. SPI's internet address is: SPI@iti.org.

The Software Publishers Association is the principal trade association of
the PC software industry. Its 1,100 members represent the leading
publishers in the business, consumer, and education markets. The SPA has
offices in Washington. DC, and Paris, France.

Software Publishers Association
1730 M St, Northwest, Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20036
202-452-1600,  Fax: 202-223-8756

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