Company:
Espro Information Technologies Ltd, the global provider of audio and multimedia interpretation systems and content, has assigned the rights to a patent relating to portable audio recording and playback devices to Acacia Patent Acquisition Corporation (Acacia) a wholly owned subsidiary of the Acacia Technologies Group, a leader in technology licensing. The patent has the U.S. Patent No. 5359698.

Registered in 1994, Espro believes that as the digital content industry has evolved, the patented technology now covers, among other products, certain MP3 players and mobile phones using solid state memory that can download compressed audio and record analogue audio. Under the terms of the agreement, Acacia has granted Espro a fully paid, royalty free, perpetual worldwide license to use the patent in its business. Acacia will pay Espro 50% of the net proceeds received from the licensing and enforcement of the patent, including recoveries from licenses and compensation for patent infringements.

The Acacia Technologies Group is part of the Acacia Research Corporation, listed on Nasdaq. The group develops, acquires, and licenses patented technologies. Acacia controls 42 patent portfolios, which include over 160 U.S. patents, and certain foreign counterparts, covering technologies used in a wide variety of industries.

Israel Gal, CEO of Espro, commented, "As the world of digital media has grown, so has the scope of technology which our patent covers, particularly within the MP3 players industry. We believe this presents an interesting opportunity for the Company to secure additional revenues and have chosen Acacia as our partner in this venture due to their depth of experience in this field. Should Acacia be successful in the licensing of the patent, we believe the benefits to Espro could be significant."

Israel Gal, CEO of Espro, commented, "As the world of digital media has grown, so has the scope of technology which our patent covers, particularly within the MP3 players industry. We believe this presents an interesting opportunity for the Company to secure additional revenues and have chosen Acacia as our partner in this venture due to their depth of experience in this field. Should Acacia be successful in the licensing of the patent, we believe the benefits to Espro could be significant."

ENQUIRIES:

Espro Information Technologies Ltd, Tel: + 972 9 7634400 Israel Gal, CEO Nadav Karni, CFO

St Helens Capital plc, Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7628 5582 Tony Drury / Barry Hocken

ICIS Limited, Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7651 8688 Tom Moriarty / Caroline Evans-Jones

About Espro Information Technologies Ltd:
Espro is a global developer, manufacturer and marketer of audio and multimedia hand held interpretive systems and multi-lingual content. Espro’s products and services are used in museums, cultural and visitor centres, walking tours and trade shows worldwide. The client base of the Group includes over 400 active sites, and comprises some of the world's best known museums and heritage sites, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Orsay Museum and the Rodin Museum in Paris, the Imperial War Museum in London, the Guggenheim Bilbao in Spain, the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the Museum of Fine Arts in Vienna, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels, the Forbidden City in Beijing and the National Palace Museum of Taiwan in Taipei. The Group employs approximately 85 full-time staff in 8 subsidiaries worldwide. For further information, please visit the Group website at www.espro.com.

About Acacia Research Corporation:
Acacia Research Corporation comprises two operating groups, Acacia Technologies group and CombiMatrix group.

The Acacia Technologies group develops, acquires, and licenses patented technologies. Acacia controls 42 patent portfolios, which include over 160 U.S. patents, and certain foreign counterparts, covering technologies used in a wide variety of industries including audio/video enhancement & synchronization, broadcast data retrieval, computer memory cache coherency, credit card fraud protection, database management, data encryption & product activation, digital media transmission (DMT®), digital video production, dynamic manufacturing modeling, enhanced Internet navigation, hearing aid ECS, image resolution enhancement, interactive data sharing, interactive television, laptop docking station connectivity, microprocessor enhancement, multi-dimensional bar codes, network data storage, resource scheduling, rotational video imaging, spreadsheet automation, user activated Internet advertising and web conferencing & collaboration software.

The CombiMatrix group is developing a platform technology to rapidly produce customizable arrays, which are semiconductor-based tools for use in identifying and determining the roles of genes, gene mutations and proteins. The CombiMatrix's group's technology has a wide range of potential applications in the areas of genomics, proteomics, biosensors, drug discovery, drug development, diagnostics, combinatorial chemistry, material sciences and nanotechnology.

Acacia Research-Acacia Technologies (Nasdaq: ACTG) and Acacia Research-CombiMatrix (Nasdaq: CBMX) are both classes of common stock issued by Acacia Research Corporation and are intended to reflect the performance of the respective operating groups and are not issued by the operating groups.

Information about the Acacia Technologies group and the CombiMatrix group is available at www.acaciaresearch.com.