SAN JOSE, Calif., June 25 -- Adobe Systems Incorporated, the leader in Network Publishing, and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, a recognized leader in the manufacture, marketing and sales of electrical and electronic equipment, today announced they are working to deliver general-purpose digital signature solutions for the Japanese market. Acrobat5.0 software and the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) will act as the foundation for the solutions, which will be sold by Mitsubishi Electric Information Systems and are expected to be available in the second half of calendar year 2001. In support of the combined effort, Mitsubishi Electric has developed a digital signature plug-in to Acrobat 5.0 software that enables the seamless integration of Acrobat into the Mitsubishi Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) system. As a result, customers of the forthcoming solutions will have the ability to view, print and digitally sign Adobe PDF documents securely and easily using tools included in Acrobat 5.0. When digitally signing an Adobe PDF file, an individual will verify his or her identity using an Integrated Circuit (IC) card -- or smart card -- which holds the user's personal digital certificate. Once the person's identity has been verified online by the Mitsubishi Certificate Authority, the transaction will be completed. "We are pleased to collaborate with Adobe in developing an electronic-authentication solutions program,'' said Tamotsu Nomakuchi, executive vice president of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and president of the Information Systems & Network Service Group. "Because the program is being built on readily available open standards and technologies like Adobe PDF and IC cards, we believe it will help drive the widespread growth of digital signatures in Japan.'' "Mitsubishi Electric is one of the largest and most respected systems integrators in the world. Their commitment to work with us on solutions based on Acrobat 5.0 and Adobe PDF is strong validation of the strengths these technologies bring to the digital signature marketplace, like absolute document fidelity and a high level of file security,'' said Joe Eschbach, vice president of ePaper Solutions, Adobe. "As the Japanese digital signature market continues its maturation, we look forward to combining the strengths and expertise of the two companies to offer customers best-of-breed solutions.'' The Japanese government spurred industry interest in the digital signature marketplace when in April it enacted a law that provides digital signatures legally binding status. Similar legislation is already in place in the United States, the European Union and other countries. About Mitsubishi Electric Corporation With 80 years of experience in providing reliable, high-quality products to both corporate clients and general consumers all over the world, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (FTSE: 6503q.l) is a recognized world leader in the manufacture, marketing and sales of electrical and electronic equipment used in information processing and communications, space development and satellite communications, consumer electronics, industrial technology, energy, transportation and construction. The company has operations in 34 countries and recorded consolidated group sales of over US$33BN in the year ended March 31, 2001. Additional information on Mitsubishi Electric is available at www.mitsubishielectric.com.