Article One Partners (AOP), the world's largest patent research community, today announced the completion of a $7 million round of institutional funding with Alleghany Capital Corporation, a subsidiary of Alleghany Corporation (NYSE: Y). The company will use the funds to drive go-to-market activities, meet the demand of current and future clients as well as continue to empower AOP's community of expert patent researchers. Ongoing growth at AOP caused the research community to more than double in size between 2010 and 2011.

"AOP clients are demanding more of our services, so we want to support them and provide maximum impact," said Cheryl Milone, founder and CEO of AOP. "This funding will allow us to expand our research community engagement so they can continue to uncover hard-to-find IP intelligence more quickly and cost-effectively for our clients. We will provide them with all the resources they need to keep doing the great work they're doing."

This is the second round of institutional financing by Alleghany Capital, which completed a $5 million round in the third quarter of 2010. The additional funding by Alleghany acknowledges both the strong track record and growing potential of AOP. A public company, Alleghany Corporation has agreed to acquire reinsurer Transatlantic Holdings, Inc., for $3.4 billion.

Before AOP, uncovering prior art research was often a difficult process for companies. By giving IP stakeholders the information they need in a rapid and readily available manner, AOP empowers companies to make IP-based decisions with speed and accuracy.

"As seen from Apple's acquisition of Nortel's $4.5 billion patent portfolio and Google's $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility, patents are finally being acknowledged as an asset class," said Weston Hicks, CEO of Alleghany Corporation. "We believe that AOP's innovative approach to patent research and its cutting-edge, proprietary technology, positions it for continued success."

Fortune 100 companies and premier international law firms already rely on AOP to ensure the best possible IP intelligence. Clients include 16 Fortune 100 companies, 30 of the Fortune Global 500 and seven of the top 10 US patent filers. The electronics, communications, automotive, biomedical and pharmaceutical industries are just some of the markets within AOP's broad client base.

"It's a real advantage for AOP to have the confidence of an investor like Alleghany, a well-established company with diverse interests," said AOP Board Member Marshall Phelps, an industry authority in intellectual property and patents issues as well as the individual responsible for significant intellectual property cost savings at Microsoft and IBM. "AOP will continue to revolutionize the patent space while helping companies effectively manage their patent portfolios, assess the quality of patents and decrease litigation costs and risk."

For more information on active Patent Studies and to learn how to participate in AOP's research, go to http://www.articleonepartners.com.

About Article One Partners

Article One Partners (AOP) has revolutionized the transparency of patent data. Today, AOP is the world's largest patent research community. The company has distributed requests for prior art research to more than one million scientists and technologists using a global online human search engine. AOP is active in 188 countries, presents search requests in 10 languages and is exceptionally successful in identifying key foreign language evidence, non-textual and non-patent literature. The company is a partner to 16 Fortune 100 companies, 50 Forbes Global 2000 and 7 of the top 10 US patent filers. AOP's client satisfaction rate exceeds 90%.

AOP has a distinguished Board, led by Marshall Phelps, the former head of patents and licensing at IBM and Microsoft. Founded in 2008 by patent community leader, inventor and entrepreneur, CEO Cheryl Milone, the company's product offerings have been called "revolutionary" and "game changing" by industry leaders. In short, many consider AOP to be the new industry standard.

About Alleghany

Alleghany creates stockholder value through the ownership and management of operating subsidiaries and investments, anchored by a core position in property and casualty insurance. Alleghany's current operating subsidiaries include: RSUI Group, Inc., a national underwriter of property and liability specialty insurance coverages; Capitol Transamerica Corporation, an underwriter of property and casualty insurance coverages with a focus on the Midwest and Plains states and a national underwriter of specialty property and casualty and surety insurance coverages; Pacific Compensation Corporation, an underwriter of workers' compensation insurance primarily in California; and Alleghany Properties LLC, a significant landowner in Sacramento, California.