STAMFORD, Conn.- Jan. 13, 2003--The inventive genius of Xerox scientists last year generated microelectronic sensors to make printers and copiers vastly more reliable. Software that automatically optimizes document design. Revolutionary materials to yield flexible, wafer-thin portable electronic documents. These inventions were among the more than 700 new ideas patented by Xerox Corporation in 2002, strengthening the company's patent portfolio and placing Xerox once again among the nation's top 10 technology innovators. Covering fields from materials science to systems to imaging- and color-related software, the new U.S. patents not only expand Xerox's leadership in core business and scientific areas but also create the framework for successive generations of improved Xerox digital systems, more advanced Xerox services, and profitable licensing opportunities in the future. According to data* from IFI CLAIMS Patent Services released today, the Xerox group was awarded 889 patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark office. The research firm reports that 701 were granted to Xerox and 188 to Fuji Xerox, the company's joint-venture partner in Japan. The performance ranks Xerox Corporation as No. 9 among U.S.-based companies; together with Fuji Xerox it is No. 7. "Technology leadership is clearly one of Xerox's core competencies, whether we measure by patent numbers or by product awards and customer satisfaction," said Herve Gallaire, Xerox's chief technology officer and president, Xerox Innovation Group. "We're passionate about continuously building on our tradition of innovation excellence, focused on three primary areas: reinventing Xerox systems, rethinking how our customers work, and redefining what the world considers 'a document.' " Xerox research is aligned to help customers increase the intelligence, quality and productivity of work processes, in workplaces and production-printing environments of today - and of tomorrow. Other patents earned by Xerox in 2002 include: * Creating predictable color (U.S. Patent No. 6,344,902): By using feedback and appropriate control adjustments, this technology helps ensure that different printers and imaging systems all create pleasing and consistent color images, regardless of the time or place the print is made. * Image registration (Nos. 6,456,309; 6,374,075; and 6,463,239): High-quality digital color xerographic images demand that hundred of millions of individual pixels be accurately aligned. These patents describe registration schema to achieve this degree of precision, in such products as the Xerox DocuColor iGen3(TM) Digital Production Press. The iGen3 - whose development generated more than 400 patents - can produce up to 6,000 impressions per hour with quality that is unsurpassed in digital printing. * "Micro region count image texture characterization" (No. 6,483,942): A simple yet elegant way to improve the quality of images when converting paper documents into electronic form by scanning, especially documents that contain complex images, color and text. * High-temperature/long-life OLEDs (Nos. 6,392,250 and 6,392,339): These patents cover the design of organic light-emitting diode displays and novel materials that exhibit high stability and unprecedented thermal stability. This will enable OLED applications in harsh environments such as automotive or avionic displays. * Bridging the paper and electronic worlds: Two patents (No. 6,330,976 and 6,345,304) allow paper sheets to act as Web portals. Through special markings on the paper, a user is able - with a special pen-camera - to point to any location on a sheet to invoke an action across the network, similar to a long-distance mouse. * Chemical toner (No. 6,447,974): A process for creating ultra-high-quality latex toner particles through emulsion polymerization. These toners are smaller and more spherical than those produced by traditional grinding methods, leading to higher image quality and lower cost printing. This patent, one of several involving these materials, enables very fine control of the particle size and uniformity. Also in 2002, Xerox celebrated the milestone of earning 15,000 U.S. utility patents in total. Awarded Sept. 17, the milestone patent - No. 6,451,495 - covers a novel composition of toner, one of many formulations in Xerox's portfolio. The Xerox group patent total stands at more than 18,000 U.S. patents and 55,300 worldwide. Xerox Corporation operates research and technology centers in the United States, Canada and Europe that conduct work in color science, computing, digital imaging, work practices, electromechanical systems, novel materials and other disciplines connected to Xerox's expertise in printing and document management. The company consistently builds its inventions into business by embedding them in superior Xerox products and solutions, using them as the foundation of new businesses, or licensing or selling them to other entities. Xerox spends about $1 billion annually on research and development; together with Fuji Xerox, the R&D commitment is about $1.5 billion. For more information, visit www.xerox.com/innovation.