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EDEN
PRAIRIE, Minn., April 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
NVE Corporation (NASDAQ:NVEC) said today that it has
been notified by the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office
of the expected grant of a key biosensor patent. NVE
has been notified that the patent, titled "Magnetizable
Bead Detector," will be issued today. The patent
relates to the detection of magnetizable beads in
connection with biological and chemical assays. The
patent is number 6,875,621 and is the grant of the
application published by the U. S. Patent and Trademark
Office under number 2002-0060565.
Detection of magnetizable beads is a key element of
proposed "laboratory-on-a-chip" systems.
In such systems, a magnetic biological marker nano-bead
adheres to the immobilization surface when a targeted
biological agent is present. A spintronic sensor detects
a very small perturbation in the magnetic field caused
by adhering beads. This field perturbation is used
to detect and quantify the presence of even very low
levels of biological or chemical materials such as
pathogens.
The company's goal is to provide disposable nanosensor
elements for hand-held devices that will provide biomedical
test results in minutes rather than hours or days.
The market for biomedical nanosensors is expected
to reach approximately $800 million in 2008, while
the market for nanosensors for military and homeland
defense applications is projected to reach $827 million,
according to NanoMarkets, LC, an industry analyst
firm.
In December 2004 NVE announced that it had successfully
demonstrated prototypes using magnetizable bead detectors
under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA) Bio-Magnetic Interfacing Concepts (BioMagnetICs)
Program. NVE is currently under contract with DARPA
to develop a high-volume nanotechnology fabrication
process for magnetizable bead detectors using its
patented spintronic structures.
"This is an important patent for NVE," commented
NVE President and Chief Executive Officer Daniel A.
Baker, Ph.D. "Together with our other patents,
including U. S. patent number 6,743,639 which was
issued in June 2004, we have a strong intellectual
property position in the biosensor space."
Links to the new patent as well as NVE's other U.
S. patents can be found at the "company information"
section of NVE's website ( http://www.nve.com/ ).
NVE is a leader in the practical commercialization
of spintronics, a nanotechnology that many experts
believe represents the next generation of microelectronics.
NVE licenses its MRAM intellectual property and sells
spintronic products, including sensors and couplers,
to revolutionize data sensing and transmission.
Source: NVE Corporation
CONTACT: Richard L.
George, Chief Financial Officer of NVE Corporation,
+1-952-829-9217
Web site: http://www.nve.com/
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