Addressing e.Digital’s recently announced efforts to monetize its flash memory-related patent portfolio, Blakeley commented, “According to research from CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, global demand for flash memory is expected to reach $25 billion this year, due mainly to the rapid proliferation of handheld devices. We believe the timing and climate are right for us to pursue monetizing our flash memory-related patent portfolio which we believe contains fundamental and valuable claims regarding the use of embedded and removable flash memory in portable devices.”

e.Digital holds five flash memory-related patents (#5,491,774, #5,742,737, #5,787,445, #5,839,108, #5,842,170--The assignee name on four of the patents is Norris Communications, now known as e.Digital Corporation--The assignee name on the fifth patent is Comp General Corporation, a then-wholly owned subsidiary of Norris Communications).