Commercialization venture proved tempting for Norton. (Wall Street West).

VETERAN computer users know the name Peter Norton - he's the guy who invented Norton Utilities, the software used to recapture files inadvertently lost or deleted. The Santa Monica resident earned the thanks of many an errant keyboard-puncher, and untold millions for himself. In 1990, he sold his company, Peter Norton Computing Inc., to Symantec Corp., for $70 million and retired to write books and articles, raise a family, and buy art.

Since then, Norton has been active in civic organizations. He has joined several non-profit boards, but eschewed private-sector board seats or management positions. However, last week it was disclosed that Norton has joined the six-member board of a low-profile tech shop, Acorn Technologies Inc., in Pacific Palisades.

In a statement, Norton said he found Acorn's business model to be "fascinating, with a great deal of potential. I am intrigued with what the Acorn team is doing and am eager to contribute." Norton declined to comment further.

Acorn Chief Executive Tom Horgan said last week that Norton has a "significant investment" in the company. "He is a tech entrepreneur at heart, and wanted to get more involved in technology again," Horgan said. He would not say whether Norton has a controlling stake.

So what does three-year-old Acorn do that lured Norton out of a 10-year business hibernation?

In a nutshell, the 20-employee firm searches for inventions or technologies that may have been generated at a university or large corporation, but need to be helped toward commercialization. Acorn buys the intellectual property, then pushes along its development, usually to the prototype phase. At that point, it seeks to license the product or service to a major manufacturer or other producer, and collect royalties. "The invention must be something intended for use in a mature industry," Horgan said, meaning a large, existing market.

To date, Acorn has acquired 20 separate inventions, eight of which it is actively developing toward commercialization. One investment coming close to fruition is a device that will help manufacture smaller transistors. (The idea was purchased from Stanford University.) Also, Acorn is working on a technology that would increase the information-storage capability of computer disk drives, again a technology with wide application.

Contributing columnist Benjamin Mark Cole writes about the local investment community for the Los Angeles Business Journal. His new book is "The Pied Pipers of Wall Street: How Analysts Sell You Down the River," published by Bloomberg Press. He can be reached at [e-mail].