INTERNATIONAL TRADE : Irvine Firm Markets Gadget That Prevents Counterfeit Software

Hoping to get a leg up in the Japanese market, Rainbow Technologies Inc. in Irvine said it has begun marketing in Japan a device designed to prevent unauthorized copying of computer software for NEC Corp. personal computers.

Peter Craig, Rainbow’s sales and marketing vice president, said a custom microchip makes the device compatible with NEC’s personal computers. NEC dominates the PC market in Japan.

The announcement comes several weeks after Irvine-based AST Research Inc. reported plans to sell NEC-compatible PCs in Japan.

“We want to reach American software companies that want to export to Japan,” Craig said.

Craig added that Rainbow is also targeting Japanese software makers who do not want their program illegally copied. “With Japan setting new sales records for PC software, Rainbow is in a position to offer copyrighted versions of their best-selling programs,” he said.

While Japan does not have as many software developers as the United States does, software development is expected to grow rapidly in the 1990s. Craig estimated that Japan will have 10,000 to 20,000 software developers in the next few years, the United States 50,000.

Giken-Shogi, a Tokyo-based trading company that markets computer peripherals, will sell Rainbow’s new device.