Altitude Capital Partners Names Former Apple Computer & National Semiconductor Chief IP Counsel Irving Rappaport to Its Advisory Board.

NEW YORK -- Altitude Capital Partners, a private investment fund focused on intellectual property, has named senior IP executive and long time patent attorney and chief counsel Irving S. Rappaport to its advisory board.

Mr. Rappaport served Apple Computer as Associate General Counsel and built their IP department in the formative period from 1984-1990. In the early 1990s, he was VP and Associate General Counsel for IP and Licensing at National Semiconductor, where he helped turn around the company through patent licensing.

Mr. Rappaport began his career at Raytheon in the late 1960s and shortly after joined Medtronic as Chief Patent Counsel. Other companies he served as senior IP executive include Data General and Bally-Midway, where he helped to identify and prosecute Pac-Man clones during the first video game revolution, and Intel, where he served as an executive consultant.

"We are pleased to have someone with Irv's substantial corporate experience to help us identify and structure investment opportunities with important IP inventors and corporations," said Robert Kramer, Managing Partner, Altitude Capital Partners, LLC.

In the early 1990's Mr. Rappaport co-founded SmartPatents, Inc., a start-up focused on converting paper patents into an electronic format which became well known as Aurigin Systems, Inc. Aurigin's analytical tools were the first to permit R&D, business development, legal and other professionals to develop techniques to assess and manipulate patents, as well as to evaluate entire patent portfolios in their competitive landscapes. At the time of its sale in 2002 the company, which had raised more than $60 million in venture capital, served over 100 customers from among Fortune 1000 companies. Aurigin and Aureka are now owned by Thomson. Mr. Rappaport is a co-inventor on 17 Aurigin U.S. patents. In 2004, he co-founded IP Checkups, a patent analytic and strategic management consulting firm that provides competitive patent portfolio landscape analyses to the investment and corporate communities.

About Altitude Capital Partners

Altitude Capital Partners is a private investment firm. Its primary focus is providing capital to all areas of Intellectual Property. Altitude invests in patents, trademarks, copyrights, royalty streams and trade secrets. These investments create working capital for growth, funding for future acquisitions, financing for litigation expenses and distributions to intellectual property owners, inventors, corporations and shareholders.

Altitude Capital Partners provides liquidity to the newly developing market in intangible assets. Its investments range from $2 million to $20 million. Altitude's mission is to invest $200 million in intellectual property assets over the next five years. http://www.altitudecp.com/