Hitachi today announced the establishment of a new operating company to manage Plasma Display Panel (PDP) patent portfolio owned by Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd. has formed a collaborative relationship with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. in the PDP business. Hitachi is considering allowing Matsushita Electric Industrial to acquire an equity interest of less than 20% in Hitachi Plasma Patent Licensing following its establishment.

The purpose is to build an ongoing and stable licensing relationship between Hitachi and Matsushita Electric Industrial, as well as to manage the accomplishments of joint development activities based on this collaborative relationship.

Details of the new company are as follows:

About Hitachi Plasma Patent Licensing Co., Ltd.
President: Akira Shibata (Corporate Chief Engineer Ubiquitous Platform Systems, Hitachi, Ltd.)

Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Capital: 100 million yen (100% owned by Hitachi, Ltd.)

Businesses: Management and exploitation of PDP patent portfolio

Date of establishment: July 1st, 2005