Stanford, Yamaha in Audio Licensing Pact

Stanford University and Japan’s Yamaha Corp. said they have joined in a program to license audio technologies they say can produce electronically synthesized sound virtually indistinguishable from instrumental sound. There are more than 400 patents and patent applications for the technology, dubbed Sondius-XG and previously marketed under the names Sondius and Virtual Acoustic. The program also includes patents and applications covering Yamaha’s XG format. A Silicon Valley start-up, Staccato Systems, will be the first licensee under the collaboration, which will be administered by Stanford’s Office of Technology Licensing. Staccato, a spinoff from Stanford, will initially concentrate on developing software for use on personal computers.