Wouldn`t the fact that the Japanese government having already approved the PSC1000 for licensing thru VSAC significantly weaken any contrary position by a Japanese company?

Patriot Scientific announced that Japan`s Venture SystemLSI Assist Center (VSAC), part of Japan`s Electronics Industry Association and funded by the Japanese government, has licensed the 32-bit PSC1000A Java microprocessor core for its library of semiconductor cores.

This agreement should allow small- to medium-sized Japanese electronics companies to design and build prototype ICs that use the PSC1000A core without having to pay the up-front license fees. VSAC will pay Patriot an undisclosed sum for the core license. VSAC-affiliated companies will pay Patriot license fees and per-chip royalties once volume production is reached.

Patriot will provide VSAC with hard and soft cores. Hard cores have hand-packed, optimized designs, making them efficient in both size and performance. Soft cores offer more flexibility in design and simulation.

http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-03-1999/jw-03-newsbriefs.html #6