Bio-key (BKYI) CEO on their TPM-related Patent
Bio-key is a tiny company that has issues of its own, but I gather that its fingerprint recording and comparison software is first-class. This is the CEO in their Q4 2008 CC from yesterday.
Question from a private investor.
Q. My question is on the new patent for the Trusted Platform Module. I’m wondering who the customers might be for that and if you could give us some more information on exactly how that might work.
A. In ’08 we were issued a total of four patents. And the one that was issued in the fourth quarter is just kind of another step forward in what we believe the industry will require from any full and complete biometric system. And it’s an end-to-end security solution right from the finger scanner or the reader itself all the way back to the database. And this patent that we’ve been issued in the fourth quarter really provides incremental security techniques and capabilities right at the device level. Ultimately if we’re doing web-based authentication or we’re doing remote, for example, identification, that technology will be critically important to ensure the security of the full and complete solution. So we think it’s important. And it’s not just one single patent but it’s really been for us the iteration of patents that we’ve received over the last two years for our – in our biometrics division.
Q. Have you heard of any other fingerprint algorithm that’s set up to work with Trusted Platform Modules other than yours?
A. At this point in time I’m not aware of any. But TPM, Trusted Platform Modules, are becoming more of a standard part of virtually every notebook computer. And so also understand that finger scanners are also becoming an important part of notebook and tablet computers. So we think, again, that if you want to insure the full and complete security of a solution back to a database, you’re going to need a more sophisticated security infrastructure, so not just on the device but one that travels all the way up the network back to the database. And you know that’s what we _____ are providing. And we see this as a value-add to our enterprise solution customers.
Q. Dell is heavily invested in that. And they use Upek – or Lenovo uses Upek on their laptops and they also have Trusted Platform Modules. Is there any particular customers you designed this for or are interested in this?
A. No, this was something that we started a number of years ago. So it takes almost – today an average of two years to get through the U.S. Patent Office and get a patent no only challenged but approved. So this is something we started a long, long time ago and something that, again, we believe will apply to the industry as we go forward.
Q. Yeah, they’re starting to roll it out big time now, so that’s great news for me ‘cause I invest in other companies that use Trusted Platform Modules. Sounds great to hear that….
