Ashlar Vellum is a very cleverly designed 3D/2D drawing program which has 
licenced several  of its patents to Autodesk. Does anyone know when these 
features will appear. Are any of them in R13?
Below is the Ashlar press release.
Best Regards,
-David Briars
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                      Autodesk Licenses Ashlar Patents
     SUNNYVALE, CA - February 2, 1996 - Ashlar Incorporated of
     Sunnyvale, Ca., today announced today that Autodesk, Inc., the
     fourth largest PC software company in the world, has licensed its
     patented geometric inference engine and interactive drawing
     system technology.
     Ashlar's two U.S. patents relate to the design of a user
     interface for creating graphic images and locating geometric
     points on drawings.
     Autodesk has not announced plans to employ the technology, but
     recognizes its potential in the graphics and design markets.
     "Autodesk sees clear advantages in the user interaction
     techniques covered by Ashlar's patents," said Robert Carr,
     Autodesk's vice president of engineering.
     "Ashlar's strategy is to make our user interface the standard for
     the industry," said Jack Hendren, President and CEO of Ashlar.
     Autodesk is the sixth company to license our two patents. Other
     licensees include Toyota-Caelum, Ltd., Claris Corporation,
     Auto-trol Technology, Inc., FAMOTIK Ltd., and CADSoft Solutions,
     Inc.
     Autodesk is the world's leading supplier of PC and UNIX-based
     design software and PC multimedia tools. The company's 2D and 3D
     products and data management tools are used in many industries
     for architectural design, mechanical design, film-making,
     videography and geographic information systems. The fourth
     largest PC software company in the world, Autodesk has three
     million customers in 129 countries. Autodesk products are sold
     through Autodesk System Centers, Dealers and Distributors
     worldwide. For more information on Autodesk, please call
     415-507-5000, type GO ADESK on CompuServe, or visit the World
     Wide Web site at http://www.autodesk.com.
     Ashlar Incorporated develops and markets products for designers
     and drafters. These products efficiently automate and simplify
     the process of creating and annotating drawings, from simple
     conceptual sketches to the most intricate and complex designs.
     Ashlar Vellum is the most productive professional design and
     drafting package available, supporting IBM and compatible PCs and
     Apple Macintosh computers. Ashlar DrawingBoard makes this same
     professional technology available to the small office/home office
     users and hobbyists. Ashlar's innovative technology has earned
     two U.S. patents and nine industry awards for excellence.
     Ashlar Incorporated is headquartered at 1290 Oakmead Parkway,
     Sunnyvale, CA 94086. Tel. (408) 746-1800 or (800) 877-2745. Fax
     (408) 746-0749.
     + 1996. Ashlar Incorporated, Ashlar, Vellum, and Vellum 3D are
     registered trademarks of Ashlar Incorporated. Other brand names
     are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
     holders.
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