New company, based in Dublin, will relaunch Microsoft Software Licensing and Protection Services as its primary offering.
REDMOND, Wash., and DUBLIN, Ireland - June 9, 2009 – A new startup company based in Dublin, InishTech, is entering the market today to relaunch Microsoft Software Licensing and Protection (SLP) Services. The new company, founded through collaboration between Microsoft IP Ventures and Enterprise Ireland, takes on responsibility for SLP Services’ existing customer base and will continue to provide, expand and grow the service to independent software vendors (ISVs) and developers around the world.

InishTech has assumed full responsibility for the existing customer base, acquired all rights to SLP Services, and licensed related intellectual property (IP) from Microsoft Corp. Microsoft will have an ongoing minority interest in the company and will continue to offer product service and support to customers for an initial period to ensure a smooth transition.

The Windows eHome Division is among the base of more than 120 customers that InishTech will take on board and InishTech will continue to work with  other product groups, business teams and divisions within Microsoft to expand the use of the SLP Services solution. InishTech is also participating in the Microsoft BizSpark program and will be actively marketing SLP Services in association with Microsoft.

“New development environments provide major benefits in terms of speed and cost to ISVs but can also create security challenges,” said Eddie Amos, general manager, Platform and Tools at Microsoft. “SLP Services, and now InishTech, fills a security need by offering superior code protection as well as flexible licensing management services.”

SLP Services - an easy-to-use family of technology services - enables ISVs and developers to implement strong code protection and flexible licensing models aimed at increasing sales, improving development efficiency and providing assurance to customers that their IP is more secure. In addition to security and protection services, InishTech will offer greater flexibility to software publishers relating to licensing models in order to meet increasingly diverse customer demands.

InishTech was created through collaboration among the Microsoft IP Ventures program, Enterprise Ireland and experienced entrepreneurs Aidan Gallagher, John O’Sullivan and David Smyth.

“We are committed to offering our customers the most flexible licensing and IP security solutions possible,” said Gallagher, CEO and co-founder of InishTech. “Software publishers have invested thousands of hours into their products, and InishTech will help provide code protection and flexible licensing without adversely impacting their product development life cycle or compromising the functionality of their applications. We believe SLP Services is the quickest to deploy, easiest to use and most feature-rich solution in the market today.”

The services offered by InishTech will allow software publishers and ISVs to license products in flexible ways that support and enable new business models, and to protect their software investment through code transformation, license compliance and product activation. More information on InishTech can be found at http://www.inishtech.com.

Enterprise Ireland, the enterprise development agency of the Irish government, was responsible for introducing Gallagher, O’Sullivan and Smyth to the Microsoft IP Ventures team. In June 2008, Enterprise Ireland was instrumental in the formation of Zignals, an Irish startup - also launched through the Microsoft IP Ventures program - that provides online investing tools to traders.

Frank Ryan, CEO of Enterprise Ireland, welcomed the announcement, saying: “The establishment of InishTech as an Irish startup company represents a significant milestone in the relationship between Enterprise Ireland and Microsoft. InishTech is a prime example of Enterprise Ireland’s strategy to enable Irish companies and entrepreneurs to acquire technologies from global corporations in action. This is one of a number of agreements concluded between Irish enterprises and Microsoft with the support of Enterprise Ireland.”

“The launch of InishTech is a tangible example of how IP licensing and collaboration can significantly benefit the entrepreneurial and small-business communities all around the world as well as the overall IT ecosystem,” said Sharieff Mansour, director of Microsoft IP Ventures, noting that this is the first time the Microsoft IP Ventures program has spun out an existing Microsoft business. “We’ve been very impressed with the vision and collective IT experience at InishTech and have complete confidence that our customers will thrive under its leadership.”

Microsoft Program Combines Innovation With Unique Approach to IP Licensing
InishTech is the most recent company to be launched under the dynamic Microsoft IP Ventures program, which started in May 2005 to expedite the commercialization of new innovations developed through the company’s significant research and development investment. Microsoft IP Ventures is a global program demonstrating the potential of intellectual property to create opportunity for both startup and existing firms by combining world-class computer science technology with entrepreneurial spirit. More information about the Microsoft IP Ventures program is available at: http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/presskits/ipventures/default.mspx

About InishTech
Founded in 2009, InishTech provides Software Developers and Product Managers globally with code protection and license management solutions that protect their most valuable asset and enable their customers to deploy and use their products in the most flexible manner possible. InishTech’s Software Licensing and Protection (SLP) Services provides ISVs with a choice of either a managed or in-house service that is both easy to deploy and simple to incorporate in applications and products. For further information, please visit http://www.inishtech.com.

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

For more information, press only:
Rapid Response Team, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, (503) 443-7070, rrt@waggeneredstrom.com
Monika Wencel, Operations Manager InishTech, mwencel@inishtech.com

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Innovative Asset Recovery Solution Takes Ruban d’Honneur Prize

Tralee, Ireland, April 28, 2009 – FreeFlow, the award-wining provider of inventory asset management technology and services, announced this week that it has been awarded the overall winner of the 2009 Ruban d’Honneur European Business Awards in the category of the Information and Communication Technology Effectiveness Award, a category sponsored by information technology giant Infosys.

At a ceremony held in Rome, winners in the ten European Business Awards categories were announced from a shortlist of ninety-nine companies from Ireland to Poland and from Estonia to Italy.  Recognizing excellence and innovation in European enterprise, the award competition this year singled out companies that have defied the economic downturn and responded with a blend of inventiveness and industry.

The judges selected FreeFlow as the winner of the ICT Effectiveness category because of its success in helping enterprises generate new revenue streams from excess inventory. Because companies have traditionally focused on the forward supply chain, they seldom have the resources to run an excess inventory remarketing program as a profitable business. Whether they are an OEM selling obsolete inventory still in factory packaging, or are a manufacturer with returns or component inventory, FreeFlow offers a deployment solution to address each category.

FreeFlow provides pre-auction services such as FreeFlow Market Intelligence to maximize recovery with targeted pricing, fully-hosted online B2B auction technology, and post-auction financial settlement, all on a pay-as-you-go basis. This end-to-end solution has transformed the way enterprises view and manage inventory.

B.G. Srinivas, Senior Vice President and Member of Executive Council at Infosys, a global leader in the next generation of IT and consulting services, remarked: “The quality of entries this year despite the economic backdrop, has demonstrated a business environment in Europe that fosters talent management, gritty commercialisation and agility, that have enabled organisations to execute existing projects and in some cases completely re-engineer their business models for success.  In our opinion, FreeFlow is a prime example of this.”

“FreeFlow has been adopted by more and more Fortune 1,000 companies who want to empower their sales and supply chain organizations to deal more profitably with excess and at-risk inventory,” noted Alan Scroope, FreeFlow’s CEO. “Such a prestigious award as the Ruban d’Honneur highlights our success in helping those companies utilize innovative software and business services to shift the paradigm of asset remarketing from a cost center to a revenue program.”

Despite the stringent economic climate, those companies shortlisted for the awards averaged an impressive 56% growth in profits. The judging panel, made up of highly regarded academics, heads of state, industrialists, entrepreneurs and media commentators drawn from across the 27 member European States, was impressed by the ability of all entrants to buck the downturn in the global economy and to post a combined turnover in excess of EUR570 billion.

FreeFlow has proven to be a top Sales and Supply Chain partner by addressing its customers’ needs to disposition slow-moving, aging or end-of-life finished goods and components, wherever those products are located. The company’s branded and anonymous auctions provide a private forum where only approved buyers view and bid on a company’s inventory. Auction and ‘member privilege’ dynamics are deployed to improve bidding performance, returning higher recovery rate on all goods. FreeFlow’s inventory asset management solution is utilized in the high-tech, automotive, consumer package goods, telecomm, and apparel industries. With its auction platforms, detailed market analysis and related business services, FreeFlow provides a low-cost, high recovery alternate channel for excess and at-risk inventory in all stages of the product lifecycle.

About The European Business Awards

The European Business Awards recognizes and rewards excellence, best practice and innovation in companies across the European Union. Extensive research and high standards of judging have established the European Business Awards as the showcase of Europe’s skills, achievements and innovations in the field of business. The competition is free to enter and open to organizations of all sizes and from any industry sector.

The European Business Awards program serves three purposes for the European business community:

• It provides examples for the business community to aspire to
• t celebrates and endorses individual’s and organization’s success
• It provides case studies and content for learning from these exceptional organizations

About FreeFlow

Founded in 2001, FreeFlow improves its customers’ product profitability by helping them identify excess and at-risk inventory and dispositioning the inventory through the channel mechanism most appropriate to that asset. Some of FreeFlow’s industry leading customers include Apple, Creative Labs and SanDisk. FreeFlow’s leadership in the supply chain arena has been recognized with a string of industry awards, including Gartner’s Cool Vendors in Supply Chain Management and Procurement, Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies magazine’s Top Supply Chain Partners, and Manufacturing Business Technology magazine’s Top 40 Emerging Software Vendors. Privately-held, FreeFlow has headquarters in San Jose, California and Tralee, Ireland, with offices throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. For more information, please visit www.FreeFlow.com.

Press Contact:
Anne Patterson
FreeFlow
860.705.0285
Anne_Patterson@FreeFlow.com

New Program to Provide More than $500,000 in Early-stage Financing for Companies and Entrepreneurs

SAN DIEGO – May 07, 2009 – Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM), a leading developer and innovator of advanced wireless technologies, products and services, has launched a global business plan competition to promote innovation in the wireless industry. The Qualcomm Ventures QPrize™ competition is open to entrepreneurs in North America, Europe, China and India and will provide US$550,000 in total seed funding to help entrepreneurs transform their innovative business plans into reality.

“Many of tomorrow’s great technology innovations are being developed by small companies, entrepreneurs and university students,” said Nagraj Kashyap, vice president of Qualcomm Ventures. “This competition is designed provide initial financial support to help bring their ideas into the market.”

The Qualcomm Ventures QPrize competition is open to international entrants whose business plans accelerate wireless technology development in the following business sectors:

• Consumer/enterprise applications and services
• Communication devices
• Semiconductor and component technologies
• Mobile platforms
• Digital media and content
• Healthcare technologies and services
• CleanTech

The deadline for business plan submissions is July 31, 2009.

From the pool of competing entries, Qualcomm Ventures will select one semi-finalist for each of the four contest markets: North America, Europe, China and India. These four semi-finalists will each receive US$100,000 of convertible note funding from Qualcomm Ventures and will be invited to the Qualcomm Ventures CEO Summit in San Diego, Calif. to compete for the Grand Prize. The Grand Prize winner will receive an additional US$150,000 of convertible note funding, for a total prize of US$250,000 in venture financing. Key sponsors and partners for the QPrize competition include DLA Piper and Plug and Play Tech Center.

Additional details on the Qualcomm Ventures’ QPrize competition, candidate eligibility and submission guidelines are available at www.qprize2009.com

Qualcomm Ventures was launched in the United States in November 2000 with an initial US$500 million allocation. Qualcomm Ventures’ aim is to support Qualcomm’s mission of enabling and fostering 3G CDMA and wireless Internet markets through strategic investments in privately owned startup ventures. These strategic investments include companies focusing on wireless communication technologies and products serving consumer, enterprise and vertical markets worldwide. For more information, please visit www.qualcomm.com/ventures.

Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM) is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on CDMA and other advanced technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Qualcomm is included in the S&P 100 Index, the S&P 500 Index and is a 2009 FORTUNE 500® company. For more information, please visit www.qualcomm.com.