Electronics maker Canon has announced it will buy out Toshiba's share of a joint venture to make flat-panel SED televisions.
Back in 2003, eletronics giants Canon and Toshiba went in on a joint venture to create SED Inc. to develope technology for SED flat panel televisions. SED TVs bear some slight similarities to CRT TVs, except that they have one electron emitter per pixel, rather than one big gun for the entire television screen. In October 2006, the companies announced plans to begin manfacturing SED televisions…and were slammed by a lawsuit earlier this month by Nano-Proprietary, Inc., which claimed the company needed to execute a new license for its technologies included in SED TVs. The rationale: although Canon had licensed Nano-Proprietary’s tech, that license couldn’t be transferred to SED Inc. because Toshiba holds decision-making power over the joint company.
Canon apparently has enough faith in the marketability of the SED technology that it has announced it will take over the joint venture, purchasing all of Toshiba’s shares of SED Inc. Effective January 29, 2007, SED Inc. will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canon and neatly sidestep Nano-Proprietary’s patent infringement claims.
Canon says it will re-assess future production of SED flat panels—including plans to build a $1.5 billion factory in Japan—but still plans to roll out the first SED sets to consumers in Japan during the fourth quarter of 2007. The current president of SED, Kazunori Fukuma, will resign from Toshiba and be hired by Canon to continue to serve as president; Toshiba engineers currently working at SED will stay on through at least the transition period while Canon ramps up the new business. Toshiba also plans to buy SED displays from Canon to be marketed under its own Toshiba brand.
The move is risky for Canon: although SED TVs hold some promise to deliver brighter images with less power than current LCD and plasma flat-screen displays, analysts have so far been dubious that the technology will be competitive in the television marketplace, especially with increased LCD TV production delivering ever-larger panels at ever-lowering prices.
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Nano-Proprietary, Inc. Comments on Canon's Press Release Regarding SED, Inc. Ownership
10:39 a.m. 01/12/2007 Provided By Market Wire
AUSTIN, TX, Jan 12, 2007 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- Nano-Proprietary, Inc. (NNPP) today announced that it is pleased Canon, Inc.(CAJ) and Toshiba Corporation have decided to continue to move forward with their SED TV.
"Restructuring of Canon's ownership position does not resolve the pending litigation which goes to trial in a few weeks," said Tom Bijou, Chief Executive Officer of Nano-Proprietary, Inc. "We have terminated Canon's license as a result of breach of contract. Moreover, our complaint against Canon includes other counts, including fraud unrelated to the ownership of SED. We are, however, willing to enter into a new license agreement with Canon on reasonable terms."
ABOUT NANO-PROPRIETARY, INC.
Nano-Proprietary, Inc. is a holding company consisting of two wholly owned operating subsidiaries. Applied Nanotech Inc. is a premier research and commercialization organization dedicated to developing applications for nanotechnology with an extremely strong position in the field of electron emission applications from carbon film/nanotubes, sensors, functionalized nanomaterials, and nanoelectronics. Electronic Billboard Technology, Inc. (EBT) has investments related to electronic digitized sign technology. The Companies have over 200 patents or patent applications pending. Nano-Proprietary's business model is to license its technology to partners that will manufacture and distribute products using the technology. Nano-Proprietary's website is www.nano-proprietary.com .
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties concerning Nano-Proprietary's business, products, and financial results. Actual results may differ materially from the results predicted. More information about potential risk factors that could affect our business, products, and financial results are included in Nano-Proprietary's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2005, and in reports subsequently filed by Nano-Proprietary with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). All documents are available through the SEC's Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval System (EDGAR) at www.sec.gov or from Nano-Proprietary's web site listed below. Nano-Proprietary hereby disclaims any obligation to publicly update the information provided above, including forward-looking statements, to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
COMPANY CONTACT Doug Baker Chief Financial Officer Nano-Proprietary, Inc. 248.391.0612
MEDIA CONTACT William J. Spina 781.378-2000