Imaginatik Introduces New Protection for Intellectual Property with Idea Central V6

BOSTON --(Business Wire)-- Aug. 16, 2004 -- Enhanced Dynamic Information Sharing, Increased Personalization and Access Control Capabilities Help Businesses Maximize Return and Manage Risk of Enterprise-wide Idea Management

Imaginatik, the leading Idea and Innovation Management company, today announced Idea Central V6, a new version of its award-winning idea management software. The latest Idea Central release delivers a number of key features designed to track, control and protect intellectual property, a vital concern for companies committed to innovation. Idea Central V6 also features new communication and information sharing capabilities and an enhanced Portal Module that plays a key role in fostering the culture of innovation that top corporations strive to achieve.

Imaginatik's Idea Central helps companies systematically innovate by exploiting ideas from employees across the organization. Built around a proven idea management process, Idea Central's core functionality includes idea collection, idea development, evaluation, idea browsing and search, and collaboration and workflow. Idea Central V6 adds a number of advanced identity and access controls to ensure high value ideas are appropriately protected throughout the innovation process.

"Innovation is what gives companies their edge, especially in today's competitive environment," said Mark Turrell, CEO. "Imaginatik is at the front and center of the innovation process for Global 500 companies worldwide and, as such, must make sure that we are ahead of the curve not only with the products we develop but also in protecting the ideas we help our customers generate to win in their markets. This new release not only adds new layers of protection for core intellectual property but also ensures that the Idea Central environment can support the growing demand for concurrent events and enterprise-wide innovation activities that signal the widespread reliance of our customers on the superiority of our software and process."

In addition to basic document date, time and name stamping, Idea Central provides access controls around different events and for the specific functionality inside them. It also tracks how people interact with potentially valuable contents via a sophisticated audit trail. Idea Central V6 expands these features through functionality that protects intellectual property during the idea management process including:

-- Configurable Identity Control--enables innovation facilitators to manage which options for anonymous submissions are made available, helping fit the application to the corporate culture and specific intellectual property requirements.

-- Flexible Access Restrictions--manages high value ideas by identifying the most sensitive intellectual property during development. Ideas can be screened before they get circulated among the appropriate audience at the push of a button, providing an additional layer of intellectual property security.

-- Waivers & Legal Notices--communicate the legal obligations for employees who wish to contribute to the idea management program, ensuring that all users are formally aware of the duties they have to protect intellectual property, and affirming the rights the company has over any resulting intellectual property.

-- Additional Password Security--allows customers to customize password strength and lock users out after incorrect login attempts to ensure strong security that complies with demanding corporate policies to protect access to confidential data (hosted customers only).

Another highlight of the new Idea Central release is the support for clustered server environments, which increases the scalability of the system for enterprise-wide implementations.

The release of Idea Central V6 coincides with a major upgrade to the Portal Module. The Portal provides unified access to ideation events and plays an important role in communicating the goals and objectives of the innovation initiatives to employees across the enterprise. The new Portal Module simplifies access for users involved in multiple events and helps foster a culture of innovation. Enhancements in this latest release include:

-- Increased Personalization--provides a customized home page to display relevant ideation events for individual users. This personalization enables the use of a common front end for a corporation's innovation efforts since it presents only those activities in which the individual employee can take part.

-- Dynamic Idea Content through RSS Feeds--use Really Simple Syndication (RSS) to expose the latest ideas generated across the Idea Central environment on the Portal, creating a dynamic, stimulating environment for Portal users, and increasing ongoing participation in the innovation initiatives.

"Successful innovation depends on a company's ability to harness their employees' potential and convert good ideas into positive business results," said Juan Carlos Rojas, new ventures process leader at Dow AgroSciences. "While the most successful innovation processes tap expertise across an organization, the development of intellectual property must take place in a secure, trusted environment. Idea Central provides an idea management methodology and a secure environment that will allow Dow AgroSciences to maximize the effectiveness of our innovation activities."

Availability

Idea Central V6 is available today for event rental and for full license purchase.

About Imaginatik

Imaginatik is the long-time leader in enterprise Idea Management. Its flagship solution, Idea Central, is designed to elicit ideas and insights from employees and extended enterprise partners, provides a shared collaborative space to develop ideas, and is equipped with sophisticated tools to evaluate and select the top ideas for implementation. Idea Central has won the Basex Excellence Award 2003, and is in use in clients such as Georgia-Pacific, W. R. Grace, ChevronTexaco, Bayer AG, and Goodyear Tire & Rubber. Imaginatik's software and consulting services have helped clients discover significant sources of additional revenue, as well as tangible cost savings, process improvements and an increased product pipeline. Imaginatik is also committed to developing strategic solutions in the field of innovation, working with academic institutions such as the London Business School and the Cass School of Business, London, and leading practitioners of corporate innovation. To learn more about Imaginatik and Idea Central please visit www.imaginatik.com or call (617) 275-7140.

Imaginatik and Idea Central are trademarks of Imaginatik Ltd.

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