CombiMatrix Names Nanotechnology Leader F. Mark Modzelewski to Its Scientific Advisory Board.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

BIOWIRE2K

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 2, 2004

Acacia Research Corporation (Nasdaq:CBMX)(Nasdaq:ACTG) announced today that its CombiMatrix group has named F. Mark Modzelewski to its Scientific Advisory Board. Mr. Modzelewski is the founder and Executive Director of the Nanobusiness Alliance (www.nanobusiness.org).

Mr. Modzelewski is also a member of the Nanotechnology Technical Advisory Group to President Bush's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), was recognized by Forbes magazine as one of nanotech's 5 "powerbrokers," and he has testified before the U.S. Senate on nanotechnology funding, investment, technology transfer and global competition.

Mr. Modzelewski has taught classes on the business of nanotechnology at Northwestern's Kellogg School and NYU's Stern School of Business, and he has lectured before numerous global technology and investor conferences, leading think tanks, as well as briefing the White House, US Dept. of Commerce, NSF, Congress, the Federal Reserve's Financial Markets retreat, global Fortune 500 companies, and numerous foreign government agencies. He has been featured in Time, Newsweek, US News, ABC News, CNBC, CNNfn, BBC, Bloomberg Radio, Forbes, Business Week, Fortune, Wall Street Journal, and Investors Business Daily.

He has also held positions at various firms including Opion, Niehaus, Ryan, Wong NYC, and Golin/Harris International. Before entering the private sector, he was an appointee in the Clinton Administration, where he served as Special Assistant to Sec. Henry Cisneros at HUD and Sec. Dan Glickman of USDA. Mr. Modzelewski is a graduate of the University of Denver College of Law and Boston University.

"I am impressed with CombiMatrix's technology and capabilities in the nanotechnology space, as well as its broadly encompassing strategy for commercialization of its core technology into multiple markets. I am looking forward to working with the company in the future," said Mr. Modzelewski.

"Based on Mr. Modzelewski's accomplishments, one can say that he is truly a visionary in the nanotechnology field," said Dr. Amit Kumar, President and CEO of CombiMatrix. "We are pleased to have him join us and provide guidance and advice as we continue to build CombiMatrix into one of the leaders in the fields of biotechnology and nanotechnology."

ABOUT ACACIA RESEARCH CORPORATION

Acacia Research Corporation comprises two operating groups, Acacia Technologies Group and CombiMatrix Group.

The CombiMatrix group is developing a platform technology to rapidly produce customizable active biochips, which are semiconductor-based tools for use in identifying and determining the roles of genes, gene mutations and proteins. CombiMatrix's technology has a wide range of applications including DNA synthesis/diagnostics, siRNA synthesis, drug discovery, and immunochemical detection. CombiMatrix provides DNA arrays to researchers under the CustomArray(TM) brand.

CombiMatrix's Express Track(SM) drug discovery program is a systems biology approach, using its technology, to target common viral diseases with siRNA compounds. The initial focus of Express Track(SM) includes the following viral diseases:

Virus                               Collaborator
SARS                                NIAID/USAMRIID
HIV type 1                          irsiCaixa-Dr. Bonaventura Clotet
HIV type 2                          To Be Announced
West Nile virus                     To Be Announced
Human Papillomavirus type 16        To Be Announced
Human Herpes 8 (Kaposi's sarcoma)   To Be Announced
Smallpox (Variola)                  To Be Announced
Influenza virus A                   To Be Announced
Influenza virus B                   To Be Announced
Hepatitis C                         To Be Announced

CombiMatrix is also establishing applications of its arrays
through other partnerships as follows:

Project                             Collaborator
Cancer Diagnosis (Lymphoma)         University of Washington/Rational
                                      Diagnostics
RNA Drug Targets                    Professor Gregory L. Verdine,
                                      Harvard University

Parasite
Leishmania                          Seattle Biomedical Research
                                      Institute
Trypasonoma                         Seattle Biomedical Research
                                      Institute

The Acacia Technologies group licenses its Digital Media Transmission (DMT) technology to media and electronics companies. The DMT technology covers the transmission and receipt of digital audio and digital video content, commonly known as audio on-demand, video on-demand, and audio/video streaming, and is supported by 5 U.S. and 31 foreign patents.

Acacia Research-Acacia Technologies (Nasdaq: ACTG) and Acacia Research-CombiMatrix (Nasdaq:CBMX) are both classes of common stock issued by Acacia Research Corporation and are intended to reflect the performance of the respective operating groups and are not issued by the operating groups.

Information about Acacia Research Corporation and the Acacia Technologies group is available at www.acaciaresearch.com. Information about the CombiMatrix group is available at www.combimatrix.com.