"Shopping for The Future" Group Formed in Japan to study Digimarc® Barcode Impact

BEAVERTON, Ore., July 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Digimarc Corporation (NASDAQ: DMRC) today announced that a group of industry-leading companies in Japan has formed a study group regarding implementation of Digimarc Barcode. The "Shopping for The Future" study group includes 17 companies encompassing retailers, consumer brands and their suppliers.  The group is led by Monic Corporation, Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd., SATO Corporation and Digimarc.

The formation of this impressive group of industry leaders follows on the recent announcement by Digimarc of its collaboration with industry association GS1 US, and represents the beginning of globalization for the Digimarc platform.  Digimarc Barcode, the Barcode of Everything, is a carrier for conventional barcode data that is generally imperceptible in ordinary use and does everything conventional barcodes do better.  Importantly, the Digimarc Barcode can be applied to all media, not just printed materials as in use of conventional barcodes.  Unlike conventional barcodes and QR codes, the Digimarc Barcode does not take up any space in consumer product packaging. The Digimarc platform addresses retail value chain challenges, from streamlining and improving quality in manufacturing to vastly speeding-up retail checkout, and providing consumers with access to important information via their smartphones.

The Shopping for The Future group has created numerous work groups to conduct research and share best practices for implementation and application development. The study group intends to support its members by providing a platform for networking and exchanging know-how and expertise.

"The potential benefits of the Digimarc Barcode will change retail on a worldwide basis," said Yoshio Motte, Monic CEO. "Embedding information on a consumer package or an industrial device surface so that it is essentially invisible to the naked eye but is easily read by electronic devices opens up a world of possibilities for greater efficiency and consumer satisfaction. The Shopping for The Future study group is eager to collaborate on bringing the Digimarc Barcode to industry and consumers across Japan. We believe the addition of this technology will revolutionize retail."

"New product packages enabled with Digimarc Barcode will become new media which can be used as a communication tool with consumers not only in stores but anywhere," said Yuji Eguchi, General Manager of Business Process Re-engineering Platform Division, Communication & Information Center, Information Innovation Operations, Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. 

"As auto-ID industry professionals, we assessed the high potential of Digimarc Barcodes to address customer needs unmet by existing identification symbols such as barcodes and RFID," said SATO Corporation President Ryutaro Kotaki. "We will incorporate Digimarc Barcode into solutions using our expertise in auto-ID technologies and labeling to meet the needs of customers in Japan and globally."

"We are grateful that the Shopping for The Future group has been formed to lay the groundwork for successful implementation of Digimarc Barcode in Japan," said Bruce Davis, CEO, Digimarc.

Learn more about the Digimarc Discover® Mobile SDK here. Learn more about the Digimarc Barcode here.

About Digimarc
Digimarc Corp. (NASDAQ: DMRC), based in Beaverton, Oregon, is the inventor of the Digimarc Discover® platform featuring the imperceptible Digimarc Barcode for automatically identifying and interacting with virtually any media. The platform enables industrial scanners, smartphones, tablets and other computer interfaces to reliably, efficiently and economically identify traditional barcoded items, along with many other media objects. Digimarc Barcodes are imperceptible to people and do all that visible barcodes do, but perform better. They can be applied to virtually all forms of media. These remarkable capabilities have allowed Digimarc and its business partners to supply a wide range of patented consumer engagement, media management and security solutions across multiple consumer and government industry sectors. Digimarc owns an extensive intellectual property portfolio, with patents in digital watermarking, content identification and management, media object discovery, and intuitive computing more generally. For more information and the latest news, please visit www.digimarc.com and follow on Twitter at @Digimarc.

Forward-looking Statements

With the exception of historical and factual information contained in this release, the matters described in this release contain various "forward-looking statements." These forward-looking statements include statements and any related inferences regarding the "Shopping For the Future" study group, the functionality of Digimarc Barcodes, the intended introduction of Digimarc Barcode by new customers, and the implementation by, and impact of, Digimarc Barcode on the retail industry generally, including the scope and impact of Digimarc Barcode on the retail industry in Japan, and other statements identified by terminology such as "will," "should," "expects," "estimates," "predicts" and "continue" or other derivations of these or other comparable terms. These forward-looking statements are statements of management's opinion, or the opinion of third parties, and are subject to various assumptions, risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances.  Actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied from the statements in this release as a result of future findings or determinations made by the "Shopping for the Future Study Group," the failure of Digimarc Barcode to be adopted or implemented by customers in the retail industry in Japan, and globally, and changes in economic, business and/or regulatory factors.  More detailed information about risk factors that may affect actual results are set forth in the company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 and in subsequent periodic reports filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect the opinions of management and third parties only as of the date of this release. Except as required by law, Digimarc undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.

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SOURCE Digimarc Corp.

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