Nielsen, Watermarking Firm Digimarc Form Two Joint Ventures

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 15, 2009 - 8:10am.

New York - Digimarc (NASD: DMRC), a provider of digital watermarking and other technologies, announced on Monday that it has partnered with ratings provider Nielsen on two new joint ventures, which the companies say will "leverage the intellectual property assets of Digimarc and the wealth of consumer and business data amassed by Nielsen."

Under the terms, each company will own about one-half of each joint venture, with Digimarc expected to account for their operations, and both companies providing shared general overhead services.

The two companies have been collaborating since 2007.

"By combining Nielsen's first-class market intelligence -- particularly our analysis of video consumption across TV, Internet and mobile -- with Digimarc's rich patent portfolio, we are uniquely positioned to drive exciting new ways to engage consumers through digital entertainment and transactions," said Itzhak Fisher, head of Nielsen's global product leadership organization.

Digimarc holds more than 525 U.S. and foreign patents, with another 420 pending on digital watermarking, media identification and management, and related technologies.

http://www.nielsen.com

http://www.digimarc.com