Boston, Massachusetts yet2.com, the leading provider of products and services for the exchange of intellectual assets on the Internet, announced today that BAE SYSTEMS, BellSouth, and the Bridgestone Corporation have committed to work with yet2.com to optimize and leverage their technology portfolios. "That companies from North America, Asia, and Europe are supporting yet2.com at the same time points out the increasingly global nature of R&D and technology transfer," says Chris DeBleser, yet2.com CEO.

BAE SYSTEMS, BellSouth, and Bridgestone join over 50 other companies with global reach that have entered into a relationship with yet2.com that has enabled each company to pursue new revenue opportunities for buying and selling technology. They include many of the most respected names in technology and intellectual property and represent the diversity of the world's technology, encompassing many industries, technical specialties, and geographies. They've agreed to help yet2.com build its marketplace, provide yet2.com the rights to market much of their technology on the Internet, help yet2.com promote the market in their industries, and lend yet2.com their insights into how to make the services of the company more useful. Hundreds of additional companies are also members of yet2.com. Together, yet2.com partners account for about 30% of all global R&D spending.

"The world is becoming a single R&D lab," commented Ben DuPont, president of yet2.com. "Technologies, processes, and know-how from Europe are incorporated into projects underway in Asia or North America. Know-how from the Americas gets licensed to companies in Asia or the EU. It's a global workbench."

All three organizations, BAE SYSTEMS, Bridgestone, and BellSouth, operate multi-nationally and are known for their strong commitment to R&D.

BAE SYSTEMS
BAE SYSTEMS is a systems company innovating for a safer world. BAE SYSTEMS employs nearly 100,000 people and has annual sales of around £13 billion. The company offers a global capability in air, sea, land and space with a world-class prime contracting ability supported by a range of key skills. BAE SYSTEMS designs, manufactures and supports military aircraft, surface ships, submarines, space systems, radar, avionics, communications, electronics, guided weapon systems and a range of other defence products. BAE SYSTEMS is dedicated to making the intelligent connections needed to deliver innovative solutions.

"BAE SYSTEMS invests intensively in research and technology but no business has a monopoly on creating innovative technology or the ability to directly exploit all possible applications." says Lambert Dopping-Hepenstal, Director of Advanced Technology at BAE SYSTEMS. "yet2.com makes connections between the developers of technology and those searching for solutions and will be a significant partner helping us to yield value from our technology portfolio."

BellSouth
"BellSouth continues to develop state-of-the-art innovations to meet the ever changing demands of the telecom industry," says Scott Frank, president of BellSouth Intellectual Property Management and Marketing Corps. "Many of these innovative solutions, software, and technologies have been licensed to other companies with similar challenges and needs. We expect yet2.com to help us license even more of BellSouth's proven innovations."

BellSouth Corporation is a Fortune 100 communications services company headquartered in Atlanta, GA, serving nearly 45 million customers in the United States and 14 other countries. BellSouth owns 40 percent of Cingular Wireless, the US's second largest wireless company, which provides innovative wireless data and voice services.

Bridgestone Corporation
"Every organization must invest in research for the long-term health of its business," says Yasuhiro Takeda, General Manager, Intellectual Property Department at Bridgestone. "However, not every organization can use all the technology that emerges from such research. And even the largest organization cannot invent everything it needs." yet2.com helps companies assess their technology needs as well as assess their technology portfolios, providing marketing services and technology promotion in addition to the world's largest Internet site devoted to technology transfer between disparate organizations. Bridgestone's operations in Japan command a nearly 50% share of the tire market. In Japan, Bridgestone maintains a dominant share of the tire market and also is a leader in several diversified products. Its Tokyo Technical Center is the hub of the company's global R&D activities. Bridgestone's globalization began in Southeast Asia, where the company has produced tires in Thailand for more than three decades. Today, Bridgestone and its subsidiaries make tires and other products in 24 countries around the world. American subsidiary Bridgestone/ Firestone's North American operations also include R&D facilities, a network of 2,200 company-owned tire stores, and strong positions in other diversified products.

R&D at Bridgestone also addresses products besides tires, and materials besides rubber. The company develops products for vibration-isolating and noise-insulating materials, polyurethane foam products, office equipment components, industrial rubber products, building materials, belts, hoses, marine products, and others. Its activity in developing non-rubber materials includes a variety of industrial applications such as Quick Response Liquid Powder Displays using Nanotechnologies.

Both basic research and product development at Bridgestone encompass much more than the chemistry and molding technology readily associated with tires and rubber. Advancing the state of the art in tires also demands capabilities in such fields as electrical engineering, physics, and advanced mathematics. Bridgestone's broad attainment in those and other fields enables it to devise comprehensive solutions to tire and other needs. And the company's vast R&D network enables Bridgestone Group companies to devise those solutions locally in the world's largest markets.

About yet2.com
Combining a network of leading global technology companies, industry best practices, and online technology transfer market expertise, yet2.com is driving its clients' shareholder value by enabling efficient multi-industry, global technology transfer partnerships. yet2.com's business is centered on an online marketplace for buying and selling licensable technologies and offers a range of professional services and products tailored to assist companies as they grow and optimize their technology transfer and intellectual asset management programs. With its headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, yet2.com also has offices in Europe and Asia. For more information visit www.yet2.com.