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Shuffle Master Named One of the World's 35 Most Innovative Consumer Electronics Firms
LAS VEGAS-(Business Wire)-April 29, 2008 - Shuffle Master, Inc. (NASDAQ Global Select Market: SHFL) announced today that it was recognized as one of the top 35 most innovative companies on The Patent Board's Consumer Electronic Patent Scorecard ("Patent Scorecard") as published in today's Wall Street Journal. Shuffle Master's intellectual property portfolio was measured on its technical strength, science and research strength, and the speed at which the Company's patents become assets. Additionally, Shuffle Master led all firms by a wide margin in Industry Impact(TM), a quantification of how influential a company's patent portfolio is on the development of technologies in its industry. Shuffle Master was ranked second among the eight US-based companies on the list and 21st overall.
Commenting on the Patent Scorecard results, Mark L. Yoseloff, Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, "We are very pleased to be rated as one of the world's top 35 consumer electronics intellectual property portfolios by The Patent Board. Our ranking underscores the industry relevance of our many products including automatic card shufflers, electronic table systems and proprietary table games. This designation also recognizes our understanding of the needs of the gaming industry and our unique ability to design, develop, and provide state-of-the-art innovations and advancements in gaming technologies. Our strong scores in several areas are testament to our valuable intellectual property portfolio and our innovative gaming concepts. We believe our products not only set the standard but also pave the way for the next generation of gaming technologies."
As the world's leading business-based patent advisor with over forty years of experience, The Patent Board tracks and analyzes innovation, movement and the business impact of patent assets on a global basis. Its Consumer Electronic Patent Scorecard is ranked primarily by Technology Strength(TM), a measure which indicates the overall strength of a company's patent portfolio holdings with a combined measure of quality and quantity. Other companies included in this year's Patent Scorecard were Sony, Samsung, International Gaming Technology, Toshiba and Sharp.
The Patent Scorecards are published for 17 different industry sectors and are available at www.patentboard.com.
About Shuffle Master, Inc.
Shuffle Master, Inc. is a gaming supply company specializing in providing its casino customers with improved profitability, productivity and security, as well as popular and cutting-edge gaming entertainment content, through value-add products in four distinct categories: Utility Products which includes automatic card shuffler, roulette chip sorters and intelligent table system modules, Proprietary Table Games which include live table game tournaments, Electronic Table Systems which include electronic multi-player table game platforms, and Electronic Gaming Machines which include traditional video slot machines for select markets and wireless gaming solutions. The Company is included in the S&P Smallcap 600 Index. Information about the Company and its products can be found on the Internet at www.shufflemaster.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements that are based on management's current beliefs and expectations about future events, as well as on assumptions made by and information available to management. The Company considers such statements to be made under the safe harbor created by the federal securities laws to which it is subject, and assumes no obligation to update or supplement such statements. Forward-looking statements reflect and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. Risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, but are not limited to, the following: changes in the level of consumer or commercial acceptance of the Company's existing products and new products as introduced; increased competition from existing and new products for floor space in casinos; continued consolidation of gaming operations; acceleration and/or deceleration of various product development, promotion and distribution schedules; product performance issues; higher than expected manufacturing, service, selling, legal, administrative, product development, promotion and/or distribution costs; changes in the Company's business systems or in technologies affecting the Company's products or operations; reliance on strategic relationships with distributors and technology and manufacturing vendors; current and/or future litigation, claims and costs or an adverse judicial finding; tax matters including changes in state, federal, or foreign state tax legislation or assessments by taxing authorities; acquisitions or divestitures by the Company or its competitors of various product lines or businesses and, in particular, integration of businesses that the Company may acquire; changes to the Company's intellectual property portfolio, such as the issuance of new patents, new intellectual property licenses, loss of licenses, claims of infringement or invalidity of patents; regulatory and jurisdictional issues (e.g., technical requirements and changes, delays in obtaining necessary approvals, or changes in a jurisdiction's regulatory scheme or approach, etc.) involving the Company and its products specifically or the gaming industry in general; general and casino industry economic conditions; our ability to attract and retain key personnel; the financial health of the Company's casino and distributor customers, suppliers and distributors, both nationally and internationally; adverse changes in the creditworthiness of parties with whom the Company has significant receivables; the pace of gaming expansion and the influence of anti-gaming constituents; the Company's ability to successfully and economically integrate the Table Game Division business acquired from Progressive Gaming International Corporation ; the Company's high level of indebtedness, and specifically the Company's ability to meet debt service obligations and to refinance indebtedness, including the Company's $150,000,000 contingent convertible senior notes (the "Notes") and the Company's $100,000,000 senior secured revolving credit facility (the "Revolver"), which will depend on the Company's future performance and other conditions or events and will be subject to many factors that are beyond the Company's control; various risks related to the Company's customers' operations in countries outside the United States, including currency fluctuation risks, which could increase the volatility of the Company's results from such operations. Additional information on these and other risk factors that could potentially affect the Company's financial results may be found in documents filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's current reports on Form 8-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and annual report on Form 10-K.
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