Patent is issued to M-Systems for its TrueFFS® software; M-Systems signs TrueFFS® license agreements with leading telecommunications companies

Business Wire, April 12, 1995

TEL AVIV, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 12, 1995--M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLSHF), a leader in Flash Disk solutions, today announced that it has been issued Patent No. 5404485 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office with respect to the method for disk-emulation on flash implemented by its TrueFFS(R) disk-emulation software program.

Flash is a non-volatile semiconductor memory technology. The patent covers a general method for handling data on flash devices which is utilized in M-Systems' products. TrueFFS fully emulates a magnetic hard disk and enables flash memory cards and other flash products to function as long term read/write devices, thus bringing the ruggedness, reliability, low power consumption and high speed advantages of flash memory to computer data storage.

M-Systems further announced the signing of TrueFFS Software License Agreements between M-Systems and two of the world's leading telecommunications companies. These Agreements grant each of these telecommunications giants the right to use M-Systems TrueFFS software in certain of their telecommunications products. The magnitude of the royalty revenues which can be expected from these License Agreements is dependent on the sales of the communications products which incorporate TrueFFS. On the basis of the estimations of these two companies (and bearing in mind that no assurances to this effect can be given), M-Systems expects to begin to realize revenues from these two agreements in the 4th quarter of 1995.

"In conjunction with the strategic License Agreement signed with Intel several months ago, these Agreements provide further evidence that TrueFFS technology -- now fully protected by patent -- is rapidly becoming the world standard in disk emulation for flash memory," stated Dov Moran, president of M-Systems. "We are pleased to provide these leading companies with the extra functionality and reliability of flash for their products, and honored by the companies' expression of confidence in M-Systems and our TrueFFS technology. These companies invested great time and effort in finding the best possible solution for their needs: they concluded -- and we believe -- that there is no comparable program on the market today."

M-SYSTEMS FLASH DISK PIONEERS develops, manufactures and markets Flash Disk solutions (data storage media based on flash memory) utilizing TrueFFS, including a range of PC Flash Disks and PCMCIA Flash Cards.

CONTACT: M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers Ltd.

Dana Gross, 972-3-647-7776