LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y. & NASHUA, N.H.-Dec. 4, 2002-- Canon U.S.A., Inc., a subsidiary of Canon Inc. and leader in networked digital imaging solutions, and eCopy, Inc. a leading provider of products that transform paper documents into digital information, today announced the expansion of their long-term relationship through a $15.8 million minority equity investment by Canon U.S.A. in eCopy, Inc. "eCopy's document distribution technology has always been several generations ahead of its competitors and has been a key differentiator for Canon digital copier-based multifunction products," said Ryoichi Bamba, senior vice president and general manager of the Imaging Systems Group for Canon U.S.A. "This investment in eCopy furthers our overall strategy to offer easy to use solutions that directly and positively impact a corporation's bottom line." eCopy, Inc. has had a development and marketing relationship with Canon U.S.A. since 1996. The expansion of the relationship will impact several key areas for both companies including research and development, channel sales and distribution, and the further penetration of the document distribution marketplace. The investment also provides for tighter integration with Canon hardware and software technologies, and a platform to build additional services using the Canon imageRUNNER series of digital copiers. "Canon U.S.A.'s long-term commitment to eCopy has helped us maintain our focus on building products that solve real problems for our customers," said Edward Schmid, president and CEO of eCopy, Inc. "Together we have a common vision to deliver products that offer a clear return on investment, allow companies to communicate faster than ever before, and are easy to use, enabling wide adoption." eCopy, Inc. was recently named one of America's fastest growing companies by Deloitte and Touche, and named one of the fastest growing private companies by Inc Magazine. The eCopy product Suite, coupled with the high speed scanning capabilities of Canon's digital copiers and scanners, enable any organization to transform paper documents into information that is easily integrated into all commonly used business applications. Through their business alliance, Canon and eCopy provide companies shared access to high-speed scanning that connects to the user's e-mail and other networked enterprise applications for low-cost, easy, instantaneous distribution and management of electronic copies of paper documents.