IPotential Offers for Sale a Family of US Patents Covering Several Widely Used On-line Business Methods.

SAN MATEO, Calif. -- IPotential, technology intellectual property (IP) experts, today announced that Chris Crawford, an independent computer consultant and prolific inventor with more than 26 years of experience in computers, has retained the IPotential patent brokerage team to assist him in the sale of his portfolio of patents containing innovations fundamental to on-line software distribution, on-line storage and on-line support.

The core of this offering is a group of patents that cover methods for automatically checking to see if there are new software updates available and, if so, downloading and installing them. These methods, in the last few years, have become nearly ubiquitous in the software industry. Other notable patents in this portfolio cover offering users the opportunity to purchase on-line storage space and providing users the opportunity to have their computer support services provide the opportunity to take remote control of their computer.

"These patents represent the work of a prolific innovator and visionary in the on-line industry," said Ron Epstein, CEO of IPotential. "This was no mere thought experiment, this portfolio of patents, based on an original patent application originally filed in November 1993, was the result of a substantial development effort Chris undertook in the early 1990s. The detail and depth of the written specification for these patents provides a fair measure of the work that went into their development."

"My commitment to technological innovation spurred me to develop a strong portfolio of patents in the areas of Internet download systems, electronic software distribution (ESD) systems, application service provider (ASP) systems, remote storage systems and remote support systems. Specifically, the on-line software distribution, on-line storage and on-line support patents that I created in the early '90s has become the technology of choice. I am taking the necessary steps to monetize my patent portfolio," said Crawford. "I selected IPotential because of their knowledge-based approach to the sales process, their marketing strategies, and their intimate knowledge of the buyers' and their needs and dynamics."

IPotential has prepared background materials and will be actively marketing the patent portfolio over the next few months. IPotential expects to solicit bids in January 2007, assisting prospective buyers in all steps of the patent review. Additional information on the patent portfolio is available on IPotential's website at http://ipotential.com/brokerage/crawford/.

About IPotential

IPotential is the technology industry's leading strategic intellectual property service provider. Its independent brokerage, IPotential Patent Brokerage Services (IPBS), is the market maker for technology patents. With experience in buying and selling thousands of patents, IPBS helps its clients through the complicated legal, business and technical process of selling or buying patents. Its founders have more than 25 years of patent transaction experience at leading Silicon Valley companies. For more information, please see http://www.ipotential.com/.