THE DEAL TEAMS WITH THE PATENT & LICENCE EXCHANGE TO PROVIDE CRITICAL INSIGHT INTO

Content alliance provides dealmakers with unprecedented access to pl-x's market-driven intellectual property values and the movements of the knowledge economy

November 1, 2000--New York, N.Y. & PASADENA, Calif.--The Patent & License Exchange (pl-x.com), the safest global marketplace for intellectual property, and The Deal (www.thedeal.com), a media company providing news and content to dealmakers around the globe, today announced that the pl-x Intangible Asset Market Index and its "top five" lists of today's hottest technology niches will become a regular feature on the new Web site TheDeal.com and in the international paper, The Daily Deal.

The Intangible Asset Market Index (IAMI), appearing today and every Wednesday thereafter in The Daily Deal and on the TheDeal.com, tracks the market value of intellectual property (IP) in the fastest-growing patent sectors including advanced materials, information technology, automotive technology, life sciences technology and express package transport and logistics. In addition, pl-x will provide the newspaper and Web site with the week's best and worst performing intellectual property niches, the most and least volatile technology sectors and IP's biggest gainers and losers.

"Our market-driven intellectual property data give unprecedented insight into the movements of the knowledge economy," said Alexander Arrow, CFO, who oversees the IAMI program at pl-x. "The Deal's readers and visitors can use the IAMI data to evaluate how different technology sectors are performing in today's market, which may help them determine which of those are worth developing and which should be acquired."

Just as the Dow Jones Industrial Index portrays progress in the value of "old-economy" companies and the Nasdaq Composite tracks corporate value in the "new-economy," the IAMI portrays progress in the value of the "knowledge economy." The IAMI reflects changes in the intellectual property values of hundreds of cutting-edge technologies. By using data from the world's financial markets, the IAMI provides a means to measure the volatility and risk associated with investments in niche technologies.

"We feel the data from the Intangible Asset Market Index will help our growing deal community make better decisions about the value of corporate assets," said Kevin Worth, president of The Deal, LLC.

To provide insight into today's hottest technology niches, pl-x uses data collected from its TRRU Metrics patent valuation system. TRRU Metrics uses live-market data from more than 1100 "pure-play" micro-cap companies and the Noble Prize winning Black-Scholes Options Pricing Model to generate an estimate of value for intangible assets. Since these micro-cap companies are publicly traded and focus on one specific niche technology, TRRU Metrics can monitor the value of more than 300 niche technology markets. And because they are publicly traded companies, the value of their technology will change continuously according to the collective wisdom of the world's financial markets.

"By leveraging the power of TRRU Metrics, pl-x is providing invaluable market intelligence about the value of today's technology. Armed with this information, M&A executives can become intellectual capitalists by evaluating companies based on their most valuable assets - their intangibles," said pl-x's Kossovsky.

About The Patent & License Exchange, Inc.
The Patent & License Exchange, Inc. (www.pl-x.com) provides the safest global marketplace for intangible assets including patents, trademarks and know-how. Based on the observation that patents are call options on technology, pl-x deploys the information and risk reduction tools of disciplined financial markets to transform patents into liquid financial assets. These tools include the TRRU Metrics valuation system, internationally compliant transaction documents, transaction assurances services through Chicago Title, and patent validity insurances through Swiss Re New Markets.

Contacts:
Nazan Armenian
Fleishman-Hillard, Inc.
213.489.8270

Matthew Glasser
The Patent & License Exchange, Inc.
626.584.3320

About The Deal LLC
The Deal, LLC is the leading media company charting the deal economy for dealmakers worldwide. The company provides original news reporting, financial data and commentary on a full spectrum of global transactions and the personalities and politics of dealmakers behind the deals. Through The Daily Deal and TheDeal.com, as well as e-newsletters, newsletters and special reports, The Deal, LLC addresses the information needs of the deal community composed of corporate executives, entrepreneurs, institutional investors, financial intermediaries and advisers. Investors in The Deal, LLC, a privately held company, include majority owner U.S. Equity Partners, a private investment fund sponsored by Wasserstein & Co., LP, and Rustic Canyon Ventures, one of the largest venture capital funds in Southern California.