U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
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FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of Earliest Event Reported): January 20, 1999
NEOMEDIA TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
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(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)
Delaware 0-21743 36-3680347
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(State or Other (Commission File Number) (IRS Employer
Jurisdiction of Identification No.)
Incorporation)
2201 Second Street, Suite 600, Fort Myers, Florida 33901
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(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)
(941) - 337-3434
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(Registrant's Telephone Number, including Area Code)
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Item 5. Other Events.
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On January 20, 1999, NeoMedia Technologies, Inc. ( the "Company")
announced that it acquired its first patent for the Company's Intelligent
Documents (TM) (IDOCs(TM)) technology, which includes products such as
NeoLink.(TM) The Company also announced that it acquired a body of domestic and
international patent filings from Solar Communications of Naperville, Illinois.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
NeoMedia Technologies, Inc.
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(Registrant)
Date: January 25, 1999 By:/s/ Charles T. Jensen
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Charles T. Jensen,
Vice President,
Chief Financial Officer,
Treasurer and Director
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EXHIBIT INDEX
Sequential Exhibit
Page Number Number Document
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5 99.1 News release dated January 20, 1999, and entitled
"First NeoMedia Technologies Patent and Acquisition
of Solar Communications' Portfolio."
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NeoMedia Technologies, Inc.
Exhibit 99.1
Newsrelease dated January 20, 1999 and entitled
"First NeoMedia Technologies Patent and
Acquisition of
Solar Communications' Portfolio."
[GRAPHIC OMITTED]
CONTACTS: Neomedia Technologies Solar Communications
Chuck Jensen, Investor Relations Kelly Gilroy
Rob Durst, Chief Technology Officer (630) 983-1400
(941) 337-3434 E-mail: [email protected]
E-mail: [email protected]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FIRST NEOMEDIA TECHNOLOGIES PATENT and ACQUISITION of
SOLAR COMMUNICATIONS' PORTFOLIO
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Builds Standard for Linking Print Media to the Internet
FORT MYERS, Fla., January 20, 1999 - Neomedia Technologies, Inc.
(NASDAQ: NEOM) announces the first patent for the company's Intelligent
Documents(TM) (IDOCs(TM)) technology which includes products such as
NeoLink(TM). NeoMedia also announces the acquisition of a body of domestic and
international patent filings from Solar Communications of Naperville, Illinois.
These actions have greatly strengthened its position and ability to set
the technology standard for linking print media to the Internet. According to
Rob Durst, NeoMedia's Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, the
Solar filings include broad inventions and have very early priority dates. The
filings are expected to provide NeoMedia with fundamental patent coverage to
support its mission of linking conventional print media with a variety of
electronic media including the World Wide Web. Durst added that, with its
proprietary NeoLink technology, NeoMedia can "hyperlink" conventional print
media directly to web content without the need to master arcane web-browsers and
search engines.
The filings also have particular relevance to web-based electronic
commerce. In addition to addressing advertising, editorial and catalog
applications, they also cover the linking of UPC, EAN, ISBN and other common
product bar-codes to e-commerce content which can be adaptively targeted to
individual customers using NeoMedia's proprietary technology.
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NeoMedia Technologies/Solar Page 2
"Together with NeoMedia's substantial existing portfolio, the Solar
portfolio provides us with additional breadth, depth and priority in the new
emerging wave of the internet--the widespread adoption of web-commerce by
traditional consumers," Durst said. "Our IDOCs technology allows familiar print
media such as magazines, catalogs, advertisements, even product labels
themselves, to become the user interface to the web, opening up web-commerce to
everyone, regardless of training or experience. Our goal is to develop our IDOCs
products such as NeoLink, along with our market presence, while protecting our
franchise with a comprehensive intellectual property portfolio which has been
significantly enhanced by the Solar components."
Currently, NeoMedia is implementing IDOCs technology in magazines,
sales order automation and customer statement-of-accounts applications. The
company expects to expand this to include newspapers, consumer products and many
other types of print, all using IDOCs capabilities.
Frank Hudetz, Chairman and CEO of Solar Communications added, "This
truly is a win-win for both companies. Solar will work with NeoMedia to
introduce IDOCs into the direct marketing industry, while supporting NeoMedia in
the establishment of IDOCs as the defacto standard worldwide." Today consumers
can download NeoMedia's NeoLink PC client software and scan or type in many
common product UPC codes, which will hyperlink to the related web page.
Solar Communications is a leader in direct marketing production
solutions, founded in 1961. Solar is headquartered in Naperville, Illinois, with
offices throughout the country and Europe. Solar serves as a single source
provider for large publishers of books, magazines and catalogs, consumer and
business-to-business direct marketing agencies and packaged goods companies.
Core capabilities include direct marketing production solutions in print media,
Internet/electronic media, packaging, mailing, fulfillment and sample promotion
services.
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NeoMedia Technologies/Solar Page 3
Additional information is available on the Internet at www.LeaderOfThePack.com
NeoMedia was founded in 1989. Its common stock trades on the NASDAQ
Small Cap Market under the symbol NEOM. NeoMedia provides proprietary software
for document management and production systems, the migration of programs and
databases from closed system to open system platforms including Year 2000
conversions and solutions, and unique Internet software that links physical
objects, such as paper, to corresponding electronic information: Linking the
Worlds of Print and Electronic MediaSM. Additional information is available on
the Internet at www.neom.com.
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This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the
meaning of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. With the exception of historical information
contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release involve risk and
uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed in
any forward-looking statement.
(C) Copyright 1999, NeoMedia Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved. Linking the
Worlds of Print and Electronic MediaSM is a service mark of NeoMedia
Technologies, Inc. Intelligent Documents(TM), IDOCSTM and NeoLink(TM) are
trademarks of Neomedia Technologies, Inc. All other marks are the property of
their respective owners.